Story of my Life
by screamlikeabanshee
Summary: Isabel Lizewski wasn't expecting much when she moved in with her cousin, Dave, and her uncle. Becoming a superhero was not something she thought would happen. Neither was everything that happened because of it. Red Mist/OC
1. Hugs & Faceplams

**NOTE: **All characters from Kick-Ass belong to the creator, not me. The only person that belongs to me is Izzy. This is my first attempt at writing anything besides school papers so it might suck a little. criticism is appreciated because I would like to improve. thanks :)

Intro:

I used to think that superheroes were just stories. Like fairy tales, except way cooler. But then my parents died and I moved in with my cousin and my uncle and my life changed... forever. But maybe I should start from the beginning.

Chapter One:Hugs and Facepalms

I was looking out the window of my second story bedroom thinking of means of escape. It's not that I hated my uncle's house! It's just that…well…..I didn't particularly enjoy it either. I was thinking about painting the dressers purple...or maybe red…NO Neon green…yes that's it, neon green! Then I was rudely hugged from behind.

"Oh Izzy!" my cousin yelled in my ear as he hugged me. "You got so big!". I yelled back "Well no shit Sherlock! We haven't seen each other in like 8 years! Now release me before you feel my wrath!" I finished with a laugh. Then my cousin mumbled a soft sorry and set me down. "Damn Davey!" I yelped, "You got tall…but you're Jew fros still as fabulous as ever!" I said with a wink. Davey is Dave Lizewski, my dear, dear cousin who is older than me by 3 months and never lets me forget it! The bastard. But anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. He looked down at me, rolled his eyes and said "I'm not that tall. It's just that you're only what, 5'6?" I looked up at him and said with a smirk "I'm 5'6 and a half thanks you very much! Don't rub it in; I know you're like 6 feet tall."

My name is Isabel Lizewski, but I prefer to be called Izzy or Iz. I used to be called Bella but then Twilight came out and that dumbass Bella Swan totally ruined it for me. But Dave had been calling me Izzy my whole life, so it worked out. I am 17, 5'6 and a half, and have dark brown hair with one bright blue highlight in it. I am going through my Scott Pilgrim VS. The World phase, OK! I never know when to shut my mouth and always told the truth, which always got me in trouble. But back to the story…..

Dave pulled me into another hug and picked up my dyed blue highlight and said "Well this is new!" I just laughed and said "Well you can't expect me to keep the same hair style forever! After all Ramona Flowers IS one of my role models!" Dave then did the most epic face palm I've ever seen. It was so forceful that it sent his glasses flying off of his face and into the garbage can which was halfway across the room. I just walked over to the garbage can, looked down and saw his glasses in there and fell to the ground and started laughing like a hyena. He rolled his eyes and walked over to get his glasses, kicking me in the ass on the way.

"OWW! What was that for!" I stood up and rubbing the spot where he had just kicked my poor butt. "Well that was to get you to stand up princess." He smiled while putting his glasses back on. "We are going to the comic book store." My face lit up like a fat kid who had been locked in the Hershey chocolate factory overnight! "YAY! YAY! YAY!" I yelled. "Atomic?" Dave nodded. I went back to yelling. "I'm gonna buy comics, and candy, and….." I continued as we walked down the stairs ,out the door ,and started walking towards the store.

"….and COFFEE!" I yelled in a deep voice as we walked into the store. Two people look up from the table where Dave already was. I walk over as calmly as I could and hug my two childhood friends, Todd and Marty. Then, I went to get my favorite kind of coffee; a caramel iced coffee, and took my seat next to Dave. And I just began to think about my life.

Yes all my friends are boys. Maybe that's why I act like a boy. I would rather wear cargo pants and a t-shirt, which is what I was wearing now. Black cargo pants and a red Supernatural shirt, than a skirt and a slutty tank top. For example, I would rather watch a horror movie than a chick flick. The only girl movie I can stand is 'Mean Girls' but that's only because of Lizzy Caplan. At that moment I heard Dave speak up and that made me realize that I had indeed zoned out.

"Don't you feel bad for him Izzy?" Dave asked me. I asked who and he merely nodded towards the door. I looked and saw a boy about our age with dark hair, pale skin, and dark brown eyes, dressed in a flannel shirt, pants, and a suit type coat walking in with a big black bodybuilder behind him. I frowned and then smirked and said "Dude! He's like really pale..." I trailed off and the three guys leaned towards me anticipating the rest of the sentence. I decided to not leave em hanging. "I wonder if he sparkles in the sun!" I said rather loudly, with a smile, drawing attention from the other customers.

Then Dave spoke the words that if I could get in the car with the professor dude from 'Back to the Future' and do 88 and take back anything, I would make him not say it. "Why doesn't somebody go talk to him!" Then Todd and Marty both turned pale and shook their heads "No way dude." Todd said. Then Marty said "Dave should do it." I looked to my right at Dave as I sipped my caramel flavored iced coffee, smiling like a little kid and kicking my legs under the table. Dave shook his head too. Then he said "Iz should go. You'll go right Izzy? Iz? ISABEL!" He yelled my name the last time, so I slammed my coffee down on the table and whispered "Fine! But just so you know, you three are the biggest pussies I've ever had the displeasure of meeting in my whole life!" And with that, I stood up from the table and turned and started to sulk in the direction of that poor, pale boy.


	2. Samuel L Jackson,nervous rants,& hippos

**Note: **So once again, the Kick ass people of Kick-Ass don't belong to me. Only Izzy does. I know that I fail at punctuation so yeah :p. But anyway! On with Chapter 2! OH! And I probably have Chris' bodyguard acting extremely out of character in this story but oh well, it just makes him more fun to write than making him a miserable ass like in the movie :).. Let the madness begin.

_Chapter 2:_

_Samuel L. Jackson, Nervous Ramblings, and Hippos._

My frown and slouch immediately turned to a small smile and a straight back as the boy who was the object of my almost dare looked up from the comic book rack and smiled at me. The smile dropped from his face as the big black dude stepped right in front of me, blocking my path. I kept my smile, looked up and said "Um... 'Scuse me but I need to get through here." "WHY!" asked tall, dark, and scary. "UM. This is a comic book shop. So…I suppose to look at comic books, Samuel L." and my hand flew up to my mouth in shock at what had I had just said.

I heard Dave gasp back at the table, so I looked back and saw that they were already halfway out the door, almost running for their lives! Must I reiterate! Biggest. Pussies. I have ever met! EVER! Then I thought for sure I was going to die, I had just referred to a 7 foot tall body builder as Samuel L. Jackson. Then he surprised me and tall, pale, and skinny by letting out a huge laugh. "You're spunky. That's neat and plus you're the only one who ever stood up to me. So kudos." He said through his laugh. I beamed at him and said in a sweet voice "So I can get through!"He stopped laughing and said "uhhh...NO!"

I frowned and walked back to my now deserted table and grabbed my coffee. I will not be defeated, I thought. So I marched my skinny ass back over there, maneuvering around 'Samuel' as I did. I ended up at the comic book display directly in front of the poor pale kid. I reached across the shelf and tapped him in the arm. He looked up in surprise and smiled at me, then looked at his bodyguard, then back at me and said sadly "Sorry about him. He can be a little..." "Overbearing? Scary? Tear inducing?" I interrupted with a smile.

He laughed and said "Yeah actually, all of the above. I'm Chris by the way. Chris D'Amico." He held out his hand for me to shake and I thrust my hand out and grabbed his hand and started shaking it vigorously, my fingers were just a bright pink blur thanks to my nail polish. "Nice to meet you Chris, I'm Isabel. Isabel Lizewski. But everybody either calls me Iz or Izzy, but I prefer Izzy. And if you call me Bella I might hurt you because I hate Bella Swan from Twilight. Also, I tend to ramble when I get nervous. Like right now and I'm still shaking your hand so I'll stop both right now!" I finished my nervous rant by blushing the color of my red homemade Supernatural shirt, which had the attractive faces of Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki drawn on it, and pulling my hand out of his and brushing my bangs out of my face.

He laughed and told me with a lisp "It's ok. I rant sometimes too. Why does it always seem that when you rant you never seem to notice! At least until the end of the rant when people start giving you weird looks! I mean come on it's like..." I laughed and cut him off "DUDE! You're starting to rant now. You have a lisp?" He looked at me and nodded. I smirked, "Wicked. It's not a bad one! In fact it's kind of..." And I was cut off by my phone ringing to the tune of 'I want Candy DEAD' by Geoffrey Paris, "_**Will somebody answer the fucking phone? GOOD LORD!" **_I held up a finger to Chris signaling him to hold on and answered my phone "Hello?"_ "_Code 10! CODE 10!"screamed the voice from the other line. "Dave…WHAT THE FUCK!" I yelled back holding the phone away from my ear, then slowly moving it back to my other ear. Dave just whispered "code 10." "Code 10…hmmm… There's a hippo at the water fountain?"Chris looked up from his comic book and raised an eyebrow at me. I just shook my head and mouthed the words don't ask. He nodded and went back to reading. "IZ!" Dave yelled. "What is code 10?" I asked, still confused, I seriously thought code 10 involved a hippo somehow. "Code 10 is I JUST GOT MUGGED!" I flinched at the harshness in his voice "Ohhhh." "Code 11 is the hippo at the water fountain" He told me with a snicker. "Oh. Ok well come back to Atomic and get me, I'll pay for the cab ride home, Ok?" He sighed and answered "Alright, besides I just got to the door." I turned and looked and indeed Dave was there, staring at me with a shocked expression on his face as I hung up the phone and said goodbye to Chris and 'Samuel L. Jackson'.

As soon as I got out the door, Dave was bombarding me with questions the whole cab ride home, "How did you get past the bodyguard? Did Chris ignore you? What did you talk about? What…" Whoa slow down there Coolio! I flattered the bodyguard by calling him Samuel L Jackson. But that didn't work so I just settled for standing across from Chris. No, Chris did NOT ignore me. And we talked about the joys of ranting and rambling while nervous…This is us right here!" I told the cab driver, as we got out of the cab and I paid him. We walked into the house and Dave stopped me and said "I guess you didn't hear what me, Todd and Marty were talking about." I shook my head no and that's when Dave uttered the life changing words. "How come nobody's ever tried to be a superhero before!" "Well. Maybe we could be the first!" I said and huge grins spread over Dave's face and mine as well. That night, we stayed up the whole time just talking about names and costume ideas. This was going to be fun!


	3. New Jobs,Mixed Slushies,& Spirit 3

**NOTE!:** Once again the Kick-Ass people don't belong to me. So I tried to do soomething different with the dialog. It might fail, i don't know. But if it confuses you please feel free to comment :) Oh and just to remind people, Spirit 3 is indeed the movie that Chris, his dad, Dave, Todd, and Marty went to see in Kick-Ass. This chapter is kinda odd but I'm all hyped up on cough medicine because I am like really sick right now. So if it is kina wierd, blame dayquil :). Let the randomness continue!

* * *

_Chapter 3:_

__

New Jobs, Mixed Slushies, and Slow Paced Spirit 3.

I woke up the next morning at about 2 in the afternoon. I had pretty much crawled back to my room at about 5 in the morning and passed out from exhaustion. I skipped down the stairs singing 'Hakuna Matata' from the Lion King. I was starting my job today! Even though I had just gotten here yesterday, which was a Friday, I skipped school and went to the nearest movie theater to get a job. They had told me to report there tomorrow…which is today,Saturday, at 5 P.M. So, I showered, let my hair air dry into soft waves, put in a headband, put on my boring ass uniform, which consisted of a black polo, black pants, and too tight white sneakers, and left calling goodbye to my uncle and Dave. I knew Dave was going to go see _Spirit 3_ later, so I told him I'd see him soon.

As soon as I got to work, my boss, Mr. Shafer, who looked a bit like Santa Claus but without the beard… he was just really fat and jolly looking, pulled me aside and told me my job for the day. I danced in my head when he said my job was to just sit in the back of the movie theater and make sure no one was taping the movie. I asked what movie it was today, and he told me _Spirit 3_. I cursed loudly and he just mumbled a sorry and pointed me towards the theater that the movie was being showed in.

I walked over, looked up and saw that _Spirit 3_ was being shown in number 3, "Clever bastards" I mumbled to myself and looked up when someone called my name, I turned and saw Dave with Todd and Marty, walking out of the building, and waved goodbye. Then I stepped into the theater.

I took a seat behind two people, obviously a father and son, since the taller one said "Son! I can't believe you dragged me to see this! And where the hell is Aaron with my slushie!"

I let out a snicker and the tall man turned around and shot me a look that caused me to sink down in my chair.

"Dad." Said the person sitting next to him, and the guy, who was bald, turned his attention to him "You know it takes time to make a mixed slushie. And they have to get my popcorn, a soda, AND your twizzlers. Plus, Aaron has to carry them all by himself."

I sighed and tuned out the rest of their conversation and took off my too small shoes, and kicked my striped socked feet on the back of the empty seat next to the bald man, and he turned sideways and almost hit my foot with his face.

He turned around and said "Really!" while motioning to my feet. I just took my feet down and folded them under myself.

"Better?" I asked. He just nodded and turned back around. I turned on my iPod and 'Never had a friend like me' from Aladdin came over my headphones. Did I mention that I was obsessed with classic Disney music? I jolted up in my seat as someone walked in and took the seat next to the shorter guy. This guy was tall, black, and looked rather familiar.

Before I could stop myself I said "Samuel L. Jackson?" The guy who I was referring to whirled around and smiled at me, so I waved.

He said "Hey! Ain't you that girl from the comic book store!"

"Indeed I am. And your real name's Aaron?" I said with a small smile and he nodded.

Then, the tall bald man turned around and looked at me and looked back at Aaron "You two know each other?" He asked, obviously confused.

Aaron answered before I could even open my mouth and I wasn't about to interrupt a guy who was about 10 times bigger than me. "Yes sir. Remember yesterday how I told you about that girl who was talking to Chris?" The bald guy nodded and smirked weirdly. "Well this is her." Said Aaron.

Creepy bald dude smiled at me and held out his hand "Nice to meet you. I'm Frank D'Amico. Chris's dad." I took his hand and shook it cautiously; I had heard the name Frank D'Amico before I just couldn't remember where.

"Nice to meet you!" I said maybe a little too happily, probably due to nervousness, as I released his hand.

Frank smiled at me, then looked to his left and said "Aren't you gonna say hi to your little friend!" to the person who was sitting there.

The person mumbled something about watching the movie and Mr. D'Amico said "I'll buy you the damn dvd! Just don't be rude."

The person turned around and I apparently hadn't been that observant because I was caught off guard and yelled "Chris!"

He smiled brightly at me and I felt my face start to blush, thank god for the dark theater! "Hey there, Isabel! Oops, sorry I meant to say Izzy."

"It's ok." I said with a smile.

Mr. D'Amico smirked as if an idea had just sprung into his head. "Hey umm...Izzy, is it?"

I nodded.

"Why don't you move up here and sit with Me, Chris and Aaron?" He asked.

"Well I would love to sir! But I'm working right now." I said with a sad smile. Chris cut off whatever his dad was going to say next.

"And you're doing a fabulous job! I just don't see why you can't just move up a row and still do your job." He said.

I sighed and picked myself off of my chair and Frank moved down a seat as I lifted myself over the back of the seat that he had just vacated. I settled down in my seat and turned to my left to look at Chris, threw up my arms and said "There! Happy?"

He smirked at me in the darkness and said "Very."

The first half of the movie we just sat there and talked, laughing occasionally whenever the real Samuel L. Jackson came on screen. But about an hour in I dozed off. Stupid slow paced _Spirit 3_! Next thing I knew I was being shaken awake by someone.

"Izzy. Izzy, come on wake up! The movie is over and you are kind of hurting my shoulder now!" said the person.

I just lifted my head up and rubbed my eyes tiredly. I looked over at Chris and said "I fell asleep on you, didn't I?"

He just nodded while Aaron and his dad snickered from the doorway of the movie theater.

"Oh. Well, sorry dude!" and I smiled

He smiled and got up out of his seat and started walking out of the theater with his dad and bodyguard.

My shift was over after that movie, so I walked outside with them and I gave Chris a quick hug goodbye as I got into my uncle's car. "See you soon Chris! Nice to meet you Frank. See ya around Samuel L!" I called out my window and they all waved and got into their waiting car as my uncle pulled away from the curb and started towards home.


	4. Costumes, A Name, Katie, & A Hit and Run

**Note!: **Wow I feel accomplished! 2 chapters in one day!. Didn't really feel like filling stuff up anymore so I'm jumping in right now kinda when Dave gets his costume and is kicking and practicing in his room. Also introducing Katie and Erica in this chapter. Hope you guys like it. If you read my story PLEASE review it! I'm not begging I am just asking. Well, anyway, Into the semi normal chapter *gasp* we go!

* * *

_Chapter 4:_

_Costumes, A Name, Katie, and A Hit & Run_

**Tuesday**

"YOU WHAT!"

"Umm...I kind of, sort of ordered my costume without telling you. I'm sorry Isabel."

"Damn it Dave! Why would you do that?" I yelled. Dave and I were fighting because I had walked in on him trying on his costume which he had told me that he hadn't ordered yet. I was super pissed off that he lied to me.

"Well, I thought that maybe you didn't want to do it anymore!"

"Of course I want to be a superhero Dave, who doesn't!" I finished yelling and started hyperventilating. I don't do well when I fight with family, it stresses me out and my stress level was sky high.

Dave took me by my arm, sat down with me on the end of his bed, looked at me and said with a sigh "Izzy, I'm really sorry!"

I hugged him and said it was ok. Then I released him and let out a small laugh.

"What?"

"Kick-Ass? Really! Of all the names you can pick, you pick that! Ha!"

"Oh yeah. Well what name did you pick oh great and fabulous one!" He said as he rolled his eyes.

"Well I was kind of thinking about having a red and orange…or maybe red and yellow costume."

"The name Iz what about the name."

"I was getting there! I was thinking about my name being…Firecracker!"

Dave laughed, "That's an awesome name, and I can't say I'm surprised, you've always been a bit of a pyro!"

"Oh ha ha, you are sooo funny Dave. Yeah I am Firecracker… I am Firecracker! HEAR ME ROAR!"

Dave just shook his head and laughed, "Yeah, sure whatever."

**NEXT DAY**

"Hey Todd! Hey Marty"

"Yes Izzy?" asked Todd while Marty just kind of ignored me.

"Have you guys seen Dave today?"

"Umm… no we thought you would have." Answered Marty, who finally decided to pay attention.

"No not since this morning." I answered back.

At that moment, the object of my cousin's secret affection walked in. Katie Deauxma was gorgeous, I have to admit and I am NOT a lesbian. To tell the truth I was kind of jealous of the way that she looked and how she fit in. Even when we were kids, she was always prettier than me. But, we were always nice to each other so I did not have a problem with Dave liking her. I thought they would be so cute together, if only she would acknowledge him.

"Izzy! Is that you?" a girl's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Katie!" I yelled and stood up to hug her.

"Oh my God! Isabel are you back for good. I haven't seen you in so long! How have you been?"

"Yeah it has been long Katie! Eight years girl!" I laughed. "I have been good considering what happened. But it's all good now; I'm living with my uncle and Dave now. And I guess I am back for good, at least until we graduate."

"Wow I still can't believe that it has been that long! Yeah, I heard about your parents I am so sorry. Well I'm so glad you are back. We need to hang out sometime soon!"

Then we both turned because an Asian girl was calling to Katie from across Atomic Comics.

I turned and smiled and waved at the girl, "Hi Erica." I really don't like her. I mean she's nice and all but sometimes she kinda just stares at you…it's rather creepy.

Erica walked over, "Hey Isabel! Katie, we got to go. My dad is here to pick us up."

Katie gave me a little hug, said goodbye and then she and Erica left.

I was about to settle back down into my seat when I thought I saw something in the alley across the road. I said a rushed goodbye to Todd and Marty, grabbed my shit, and ran out of the door and towards the alley.

As I turned the corner, I saw something that made my stomach turn. A trail of blood. I ran, following the trail. It didn't take me very far until I found the source.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed as quickly as I could.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"Help! I need help! There's been a hit and run, behind the parking lot in the alley across from Atomic Comics! HURRY!"

"We will send help right away."

I hung up and kneeled down next to the figure clad in a green and yellow wetsuit. "Dave?" I whispered weakly. "I called an ambulance."

He opened his eyes and just looked at me. He looked so scared.

"Izzy," he said, "help me take off my costume before the ambulance gets here. I can't have my dad find out. I just can't."

I helped him out of his costume and was tucking it into my purse right when the medics got there. I told them that Dave was like this, unclothed, when I found him. They let me ride in the ambulance with him and as soon as we got to the hospital I called my uncle and told him.

No more than 15 minutes later, my uncle was running through the door. As soon as he saw me, he ran over and hugged me. I just sat there and cried. I sat outside when they let him into the room to visit Dave, who was being prepped for surgery. As I waited, my puffy, tear-filled eyes fell to my purse which was next to me on the bench.

I would never tell my uncle about Dave or myself for that matter, being or trying to be heroes. _This would be the secret between the two of us, _I thought, _until the day we die._


	5. Frank's cus Mobsters Need good wood too

**Note:** Benydryl or however you spell it, induced madness follows. HA! The chapter title and slogan of Frank's Lumber came to me during this drug induced time so please xcuse it's randomness...I am even diturbed that I thougt of it!I know that Across the Universe 2 is not a real movie, sadly :(. I discovered that I was spelling Katie's name 'Kaite' about halfway through and flipped out so it might be in there somewhere. I skipped through the time when Dave is in the hospital so maybe hero stuff next chapter. It only took me a while because I kind of like writing them as regular peole like hanging out with friends and stuff. WELL ONWARD WE GO!

* * *

_Chapter 5_

_Frank's Lumber: Because even Mobsters Need Good Wood :)_

(**A/N: **see I told you it was wierd!)

**2 months later**

I was so excited. Dave was finally getting out of the hospital tomorrow! I have to admit, I was kind of jealous of the metal plates he had surgically put into his body. It made his x-rays look like freakin Wolverine! But anyway, to celebrate, Katie, Erica, and myself were sitting in Atomic drinking coffee and talking about stuff.

"So!" Katie said, "I wonder if Dave will ever want to hang out after he gets out of the hospital."

This statement caused Erica to choke on her coffee so I started hitting her back. She looked at me after about a minute. "I'm good now Izzy."

"Oh ok. I just didn't want you to die is all!" Surprising to say, Erica was beginning to grow on me. Since Dave had been in the hospital, I had started hanging out with he and Katie about 5 days a week after school, 3 of those days were usually spent like right now. Sitting in Atomic and gossiping like idiots. In the two months since Dave had been admitted, my blue streak had grown out, and I had been too lazy to re-dye it, my hair was now just dark brown. It fell past my shoulders now, it had grown because when I first got here, my hair only just touched my shoulders.

"What makes you so interested in hanging out with Dave all of a sudden, Katie?" I asked.

"Well, since he's gay, I don't have to worry about him hitting on me!" she said with a smile.

Me and Erica raised our eyebrows and exchanged a look that said "Oh boy!"

"Yes of course he will want to hang with you!" I said with a smirk.

Erica then decided to change the subject. "So, Izzy, how's Chris doing?"

I blushed. Since the day at the movies, pretty much all the time that I wasn't with Katie and Erica, I spent with Chris. Just hanging out and talking, not dating or anything, although Katie and Erica insisted we were. Since I didn't have work anymore it was pretty much all day every weekend and after 6 every week day. To put a long story short, I had been fired after about 3 weeks of work. I was under stress and this little kid had been throwing popcorn at me the whole movie, so I flipped out, grabbed the kid's popcorn and dumped it over his head. Needless to say the kid's parents were NOT happy. So I got fired.

"Well Erica, thanks for asking." I said with a light smile on my face.

Katie then interjected, "How's the mafia going?" and we all laughed.

"How many times do I have to tell you guys! His dad owns a freakin lumber supply store!"

"Yeah well he can have a day job, can't he!" asked Erica.

"Oh totally cus I know if I was a mob boss I would for sure want to sell lumber!" and we were thrown into hysterical laughter again.

"No seriously." Said Katie after the laughter had died down a little. "Do you believe me that the lumber is just a cover! Either that or he just sells to his mafia members."

"Whoa hold on! I'm lost. Is it the mob or the mafia?" said Erica who looked confused.

"Same difference!" Snapped Katie.

"Oh my God Katie! I just found out what a good slogan for his lumber/mafia business could be!" I said excitedly.

They both leaned forward and said "What!"

I set down my coffee, and leaned back in my seat. "Frank's Lumber Supplies Plus: because even the mafia needs good hard wood!"

That set us off. Just the ridiculousness of it all, what with the lumber, the mafia, and the hard wood.

We only stopped when I heard a throat clear behind me, and on instinct I yelled out the slogan again and slumped forward onto the table in laughter. I finally looked up and saw Katie and Erica staring over my shoulder. Slowly turned around and the smile dropped off of my face.

I was looking right into the face of Chris D'Amico. My new best friend and son of the alleged mob boss I had just been making fun of! _Oh lord_, I thought,_ I am so screwed._

To my surprise however Chris started laughing it up. Figures, this dude who is supposed to be more mature than me, as he says all the time, laughs at the mere mention of wood.

Turns out he was there to pick me up; we were going to see a movie.

"What movie do you wanna see, Izzy?" he said as he took a seat in the booth next to me.

"Umm…. I don't know. How about…Across the Universe 2!" I said with a smile. I love the Beatles and musicals. Plus Joe Anderson is pretty gorgeous.

He sighed, as I looked across the table and saw Katie and Erica give me very suggestive looks using only their eyes.

"Oh the things I do for you." Was all he said.

"Oh shut up Chris! You know you love the Beatles!" I said as I hit his arm playfully.

"Whatever." He got up from the booth and let me out. He turned to Katie and Erica. "Oh you guys must be Katie and Erica. It's nice to meet you. Sorry I have to steal Isabel from you now." They all smiled, while I frowned at my full first name being used. The girls said hi back. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot impatiently.

I finally got frustrated and uncrossed my arms and grabbed Chris by his arm. "Sorry girls! But I don't want to miss the movie!" I said to Katie and Erica. They mumbled a goodbye as Chris started to walk to the door.

I started to follow, but then turned back to look at the table. Yep just as I suspected. They started making obscene hand motions towards me. I flipped them off, then turned on my heel and walked to the door that Chris was holding open. We went out to the car and as we were getting in I turned and smiled at him.

"What!" asked Chris.

I just smiled and started singing "The Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you awaaayy! Waiting to take you away! Roll uuppp! Roll up for the Mystery Tour!"

He groaned but smiled and settled back into his seat and whispered "This is going to be the longest car ride ever!"

As I continued in the background. "DAAAAAAA THE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. ROLL UP! ROLL UP FOR THE MYSTERY TOUR!"

We got to the movies about 10 minutes later. Those ten minutes included my beautiful renditions of 'Magical Mystery Tour', 'Help!' and 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer', the most cheerful song about mass murder ever written.

We walked in and got our snacks, then settled in for 2 hours of Beatle-y goodness.

At one point Chris said to me "You are so lucky that Evan Rachel Wood is in this or else I wouldn't even be here."

I felt jealous… but shoved that feeling aside and focused on the movie for the next hour and a half. Tomorrow Dave would be coming home, and that meant less time with Katie, Erica, and Chris. The one thing I was looking forward to besides Dave being home was me getting to play hero. I still didn't know if Dave wanted to do it still or not. I smiled to myself. _Oh yes, the superhero gig will go on_. I thought. _With or without Kick-Ass._


	6. First Gig,Mr Bitey,& Broken Noses

**Note:** I know that none of the clothing items in my costume probably exist in the way I have them written, but that is just how I pictured her costume to be in my head. So that is the way it looks in the story. Use your IMAGINATION people! For the mask, think Hit Girl's but black. I don't even know if what she says before they leave the house is a real phrase, but it sounded good in my head. I also made up a name for Mr. Bitey's owner cus I don't know if they showed it in the movie; I pretty much made up the whole of what the sign says. I finally feel better! Yess! This chapter is Izzy's first time in costume, and my first time writing her as Firecracker. Hope you enjoy it! Now let us go into the unknown world! xD

* * *

_Chapter 6:_

_First Gig, Mr Bitey ,& Broken Noses_

**One Month Later**

I smiled into the mirror at my new appearance. Finally, after a month of my constant badgering and complaining, Dave had agreed to give crime fighting another try. This time with me by his side as Firecracker.

I looked at my costume. It was leather, because that is very superheroish! It was a pair of red leather pants with yellow stripes down the side, a shirt that was almost like a corset, which was also red but with small yellow and orange flames on the sides and bottom. I wore black gloves that went up to almost my elbows. My shoes were steel toed boots that I had spray painted black. My wig was probably my favorite part though! It was long, probably reaching the bottom of my shoulder blades, was red, with streaks of every other color in my costume, orange, yellow, and black in it. What can I say, I really like fiery colors. I was super proud to say that I had added all of the stripes and streaks to my outfit by myself. I put on my mask as a final touch. My mask was made of a strip of black fabric which tied under my wig, concealing the knot.

I walked out of the room and into Dave's and saw him in his Kick-Ass costume. I decided to screw with him and deepened my voice.

"YO PUNK!"

He jumped up from where he was laying on his bed in a karate stance and I just laughed at him. He eyeballed my costume. "Wow I am jealous. Not only is your name awesome but so is your costume!"

"Thanks cuz!" I smiled. "Your name is pretty kick ass too. See what I did there?"

"Yeah hilarious. Now can we go or not!"

"Yes! Let us sally forth into the unknown!"

He went over to his window and climbed out, I followed him, and we started walking towards this convenience store type thing.

**10 Minutes Later**

We walked around a corner and Dave picked up a sign.

"Hey look at this!" He handed me the sign and I read it out loud.

"Missing: Mr. Bitey." I snickered and continued. "He has been missing for a week, and is a gray striped cat. If found please return to Melody Simpson at 42 Wallaby Way."

"What do you think? Good enough for our first gig?"

"Yeah I guess." I sighed and started walking.

"Where are you going!"

"To see if anyone has seen this dumbass cat, that's where!"

After about 4 minutes of walking up to strangers and asking if they'd see Mr. Bitey, we were nearing the convenience store. Dave stopped dead.

"HEY! I think that is Mr. Bitey!"

I looked up at the billboard Dave was pointing at. "Well I'll be damned! How in the holy hell did that cat get up there!"

"I don't know, but I'm going to try to get him down."

"Be careful!" I said as Dave started to climb the ladder on the sign.

After about a minute I heard him yell, "NO! NO! Fuck you Mr. Bitey!" And he fell to the ground and landed right in front of me. I kneeled down to help him up, and we were both knocked down by this guy who came running out of nowhere. I was in shock when 3 other guys came and started to beat this guy up. Dave ran up and pulled out two batons.

"When the hell did you get those!"

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Dave yelled.

Then, the guys and Dave started fighting. I just stood there watching, until I saw the one rather muscular guy pick up a trash can and run towards Dave. I snapped out of my shocked state, let out a yell, and jumped right onto this guy's back. He knocked me off, but I got right back up. He punched me in the nose…HARD.

"AHHHH! You dumb fucker!" I yelled and let out a whimper.

"What the hell? You're a girl!"

And then I kicked his legs out from under him and punched him in the face as hard as he had punched me. "Not just a girl, I'm you're worst nightmare scumbag!"

Then I ran over to Dave and hit this one guy in the face with a big rock I had found on the ground. The leader stopped and called me and Dave crazy for protecting the guy who they were trying to beat up. Dave just told him off and pointed to the window where people stood filming the whole thing!

_Oh boy!_ I thought.

The ring leader ran over and got his friend, who was standing far away from me in fear of another broken bone, and took off running with him limping behind. Turns out I had fractured his ankle when he fell…Good for him.

Dave stood over the guy, who whispered a thank you too us.

"No problem man." I said with a weak smile. My nose was almost throbbing in pain.

Then the kid that Dave had told to call the police ran over to us and held his cell phone camera in our faces.

"That was fuckin awesome! Who are you!" said the kid.

"I'm Kick-Ass!" answered Dave.

The kid focused on me, "And who are you!"

"Me? I'm Firecracker! And me and Kick-Ass must be leaving now." I pulled Dave up and started to walk away. Then I stopped, turned back and started walking towards the billboard and up the ladder.

"Firecracker! What are you doing?"

I didn't answer, but I lowered myself down about a minute later, cradling Mr. Bitey in my hands like a baby. "I was getting Mr. Bitey! This little guy caused us a lot of trouble tonight!" I said with a small smile.

"Let's go home, Iz." He whispered for only me to hear.

"Ok. But one thing first."

"What?"

I held up Mr. Bitey to Dave's face. "We should get your new BFF home!"

We both started laughing then finally controlled ourselves.

We started walking towards Wallaby Way which was only about 3 blocks away.

"What number is it?"

"For the last time Kick-Ass! It's 42."

"Then we are here."

I turned and saw that we were standing in front of number 42 Wallaby Way. I took Mr. Bitey from Dave and walked up to the door. I took in a deep breath and knocked on the door. A tired looking man answered.

"Hello?" his eyes widened when he saw my costume. "How can I help you?"

"Um…Yes is Melody here? I believe I found her cat." And I held up Mr. Bitey. The man smiled at me and went to get Melody. He came back about 30 seconds later with a little girl, no more than 6, trailing behind him. She saw the cat in my hands and her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"!" She took the cat from me. "You found him!" Then, to my surprise she put down the cat and hugged my waist. "OH thank you. Thank you, thank you!" Then she released me and ran off with her cat as her dad stepped forward.

"What's your name?" I looked at the man all confused. "So that know what name to put on the check." He explained.

I shook my head and told him, "My name is Firecracker. And I don't want the reward! Your daughter's happiness just made my day, so that was good enough."

He just thanked me again, said goodbye and closed the door.

I walked back to Dave. "Ok Kick, I'm done. Let's go home now!"

We started the walk home and as we reached the house about 15 minutes later, Dave turned and looked at me.

"What?"

"Kick? Really, of all the thing you can call me?"

We both laughed as we climbed in the window and went off to our separate rooms. My nose was still throbbing, so after I took off my costume and put on my pajamas, I went downstairs and got an ice pack and then walked back upstairs, put the pack on my nose, and immediately fell asleep.


	7. KickAss! and   Firecracker?

**NOTE:** Sorry for not posting for a while guys! I was super busy with things like senior projects and papers. DAMN YOU EDUCATION!*shakes fist at air* But anyway I don't really like Dave in the movie so…I might turn him into a bit of a meanie this chapter and later on. It's just that Dave always struck me as kind of a whiny lil bitch! I mean he has metal plates in his head and a little fuckin 11 year old is getting her ass kicked by a 40 year old and she ain't bitchin about it! I mean come on MAN UP DAVE! But anyway! Onto this chapter….It is set the day that Kick-Ass becomes famous….that's right KICK-ASS…not Kick-Ass and Firecracker. Chris will be in this chapter.

* * *

_Chapter 7:_

_Kick-Ass: Instant Star! Firecracker: Who That Be?_

**Two Days Later**

I walked to Atomic Comics with the guys wearing an old purple Invader Zim shirt and dark skinny jeans with brown boots with buckles on the side, which went up to my mid-calf. I was rocking a bandage on my nose, because it was of course broken, that ass hole! I started to walk in the door but Dave stopped in front of me.

"Dave? Dave?"

He merely pointed in front of him. There was a standee dressed as Kick-Ass with a sign attached to it that said 'Kick-Ass: The Comic! COMING SOON!' in big black letters. I started to look around for a Firecracker one… but there was none to be found.

"What the hell!" I mumbled to myself as we made our way over to our table by the TV.

On the TV was playing the fight that me and Dave, sorry Kick-Ass and Firecracker, had been in. I saw the flash of red jump on the guy about to hit Dave…DAMN! I looked like an animal; I thought and chuckled to myself. But then it showed Kick-Ass introducing himself and then IT CUT OUT! No epic "I'm Firecracker!" WHAT THE FUCK MAN!

I dragged Dave's ass away from the table. He smiled at me smugly.

"What was that Dave?"

"Well apparently the people at the news station reviewed the kid's footage and thought Kick-Ass was just more useful, since he was the one who really saved that guy." He smiled at me, but it was meanly done, he was making fun of me!

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" I whispered. As my mouth was dropped open in shock.

"You know exactly what it means."

I felt myself coming close to angry tears; I had done my part too! "Well maybe Kick-Ass needs to be reminded that if it wasn't for Firecracker, he would have had a rock and a trash can smashed over his ungrateful head! And also what injuries did you get Dave! Cus I got a fuckin BROKEN NOSE THAT HURTS LIKE A MOTHER FUCKER! In case you haven't noticed!" I was hyperventilating and about to cry. So I ran back to the table, picked up my shit and ran towards the door, leaving Dave standing there in shock, as the words I said sunk in.

I was walking down the street in tears and a terrible mood, let me tell you! I stumbled off the sidewalk and started walking on the side of the road. I heard a horn beeping so I waved my arms to signal them to go around. I heard the car pull over and honk the horn, so I whirled around with tears in my eyes.

"WHAT! WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM DUDE!" I yelled as I stomped towards the car, not the smartest thing to do I know.

The window in the back rolled down and my mouth dropped open, and my heart dropped. In the back seat of that car was my best friend.

"Chris!" I whispered excitedly.

"Hey Izzy." He said rather grumpily. "I thought you were just going to ignore me like you have been for a while."

It clicked in my head that I have kind of been ignoring him since Dave got out of the hospital. I started to tear up again and Chris noticed.

"Iz…" he said softly. "Come on Isabel, I'm not mad, just get in the car. I'll have my driver drive you home first if you want."

He opened the door and let me in. I sighed and stepped into the warm car. "Actually Chris, I don't want to go home."

His eyes opened wide as I stared up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Oh no, Izzy! I don't think that…"

Then a voice from the front seat cut Chris off. "Jesus Christ Chris! Man up and let the girl come over. I mean you have pretty much been secretly dating her for like a month!"

"WE AREN'T DATING, AARON! "Me and Chris yelled at the same time. Then I sunk back into my seat blushing faintly.

"Hey!" I said in an excited voice that was still croaky from me crying while I was walking. "Aaron! How's it goin man!"

"Eh…so so. And how about yourself?"

"Well right now I'm doin pretty craptastic!" I said with false happiness, then turned to Chris and started pouting "Pretty please! I never even met your mommy yet…secret boyfriend!" I said the last part and a huge smile cracked over my face and I started laughing.

"OK FINE!" yelled Chris "Aaron! Just take us home."

"Righto!"

"Since when do you say righto?" I said, slightly wierded out.

"Since now!" He said.

"OK! Just asking." I looked at Chris, who had a small nervous smile on his face. "AW! Somebody's nervous that his mommy is meeting his little friend!" and laughed in his face. He pushed my face away to the other side of the car making me slip, because I had been sitting with my legs up under me.

"Compose yourself! We are here!"

"Ok" I said as I pulled myself up, and fixed my hair in the rearview mirror. "There!" I said and got out of the car, Chris was holding the door for me. "Well thank you kind sir!" I said as I smiled at him.

His cheeks turned pink "You are welcome kind lady." Then he pointed behind me because I was facing the car "After you."

I turned around and my mouth dropped open. We walked through the door and my jaw dropped even further. "HOLY SHIT! You live here? You have security guards?" He nodded. I smiled hugely then waved to the guards as we got into the elevator, "HI GUARDS!" They all just raised their eyebrows at me and waved slowly. As soon as the doors closed, Chris and Aaron started to laugh at me. "Yeah! Yuck it up meanies!" I said and I joined them in laughing.

Chris and I stopped laughing and Chris said "We are like one floor away! Control yourself!" Aaron was almost doubled over laughing still, and imitating my excited waving. Chris and I just stared at him with raised eyebrows.

"Ya done there?" I said.

He immediately stopped and stood up straight, "Yes!"

Then the doors opened, and I heard people talking, I got kind of nervous "_WTF!"_ I thought, "_Calm down Iz! You are just his friend. No reason to be nervous." _As another little voice added "_Yeah just a potential mob boss and his mob…wife." "Shut up!" "Make me!" _I shook my head to stop my subconscious argument.

"You ready?" said Chris, he looked nervous.

"Ready as I'll ever be buddy." I said. I lied I was going to puke.

He took my hand and led me towards what I guessed was the kitchen. One point for me!

I pulled back my hand as we got almost to the door and leaned against the wall. Chris turned and looked at me. I whirled around and started walking back towards the elevator. I felt him grab my arm and turn me around and he pulled me into a hug. "You will be fine Isabel." He whispered in my ear as he ruffled my hair. "My dad already thinks you are awesome. And I have told my mom enough about you to know she would like you."

I pulled out of the hug and smiled at Chris. "Really?"

"Yeah and even if they hated you, that would not stop me from being your friend! You are one of the nicest and funniest people I have ever met." He took my hand and led me down the hall again.

I blushed "Wow! Thanks best friend."

"No problem."

Then he walked in the kitchen, where his mom and dad were sitting. "Mom. Dad. I have some one that I want you to meet." He went to walk forward, but I was hiding behind the door frame and I pulled my arm back. That caused him to jerk backwards and hit his face on the door.

I laughed and stepped out from behind the door. "Wow Chris! Smooth move there!" I laughed at him as he grumbled angrily. I heard his parents join in laughing; his face must have looked ridiculous.

I stopped laughing and looked up at him. Damn him being like 2 inches taller than me. I looked at his face. "No permanent damage done! You still look hot." I felt my face turn red and saw his face turn pink.

"Wow thanks Iz. That means a lot coming from you." He said taking it as a sarcastic comment…it wasn't.

"Well you didn't even comment on my badass nose bandage yet!"

"Well!..."

We both stopped and turned around as Chris' dad cleared his throat. "Chris what is going on?"

"Oh right! Dad you remember Izzy?"

He shook his head.

"The girl from the movie theater." Chris added.

"AH yes! The one who fell asleep during Spirit 3."

"The one and only." I said with a small smile.

"Well it is nice to see you again Izzy."

"Good to see you again to Mr…Frank."

He laughed and motioned to his wife, "This is my wife, Angie."

I stepped out from next to Chris and shook his mom's hand. "Nice to meet you Mrs. D'Amico."

"Please call me Angie." She said sweetly as she shook my hand, then let go. "I mean please, don't call me Mrs. D'Amico." She said in almost a pleading voice.

I laughed "Um... well nice to meet you Angie. Nice to see you again Frank. But it seems that young Christopher is dragging me away!" And indeed he was. He was pretty much pulling me by the arm down the hall already.

"See you guys later! I'm gonna show her my room."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" I heard his dad yell.

"There is nothing you wouldn't do dad!" Chris yelled back as he blushed and laughed.

We both heard his parents laughing as his dad yelled back "DAMN STRAIGHT BOY!"

Chris and I both burst into laughter as he pulled me into his room and closed the door.

His room was lots of red, orange, and black.

"Wow." I said as I walked around his room. "You sure got a Halloween color scheme going on here." I said as I stopped next to his bed and started to play with the orange and black stripped bed spread.

"Jealous!" His voice said from behind me causing me to jump in the air.

"I has an idea of what we can do! Put on some music."

"Like what?"

"Um…I don't know like Journey or AC/DC maybe?"

He looked at me in shock then went over to his cd player and seconds later AC/DC's cd Back in Black was echoing through his room.

I started jumping on his bed and singing along. He smirked at me.

"What are you doing?"

"Having fun! Loosen up Babycakes!" I said with a laugh.

He sighed and kicked off his shoes.

"YAY!" I yelled as he started jumping on the bed with me. After about five minutes, he fell over laughing. I was still jumping and laughing because he was trying to grab my ankles.

"Can't get me! Can't get me! CAN'T GET ME! CAN'T….OMPH!" I was grabbed by the ankle and fell next to him on the bed laughing. After about 2 minutes he stopped laughing and just sat up and looked down at me, still rolling with laughter on his bed. I stopped when I saw him staring and sat up too.

"What? Something on my face…besides this ugly band aid?" I asked.

"No…It's just that…never mind."

"What dude! Don't leave me hanging." I joked and pushed his arm.

"Fine. It's just that you look really pretty. Even with that ugly ass band aid on your nose." He said with a laugh and looked away.

"… AW! Thank you Chrissy!" I hugged him from behind. "You just made my day!" I kissed his cheek. "Plus…I happen to think that you are pretty damn cute yourself."

He whirled back around. "Really?"

"Yes really." I laughed and changed the subject. "So did you see the new superheroes on TV?"

"You mean Kick-Ass? Yeah he seemed pretty cool. I wish I could be a superhero." He said with a dreamy look on his face.

"Well what about the girl?"

"You mean the one that like jumped on the guys back?"

"YEAH! I mean…you saw that part too?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of disappointed that she never introduced herself."

"She did! Her name is Firecracker!" I blurted out.

Chris looked confused, "How do you know?"

"Um…I was there, inside the convenience store and heard her say it…DUH!"

We both laughed, and he looked at me. "You alright there Izzy?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm fine." I looked at his clock. "HOLY COCK! I have to go home…LIKE NOW!"

"Ok. I'll have Aaron drive you. Don't worry I'll go too." He laughed as I shook my head at the thought of being alone in a car with Aaron. We walked down the hall and I said goodbye to his parents. Then we went down to the car. About ten minutes later I was walking into my uncle's house.

"Where were you?" my uncle asked.

"I was at a friend's house."

"And you didn't tell Dave?"

"Dave was being an ass. So I left Atomic and called my friend to come pick me up."

"What friend?"

"This one guy I met at the comic book store."

He smiled at me. "Is he nice?"

I blushed a little bit. "Yeah he's really nice."

"Ok…well next time, call. Now go tell Dave you are home. Ass or not, my son was worried sick about you."

I sighed. "Alrighty then."

"Dinner in a half hour?"

"Sounds good. Pizza?

"You know it!"

I laughed to myself as I walked up the stairs and past my room towards the cave of the ass hole I call a cousin.


	8. Girl Power! I love this kid!

**NOTE: **So excited to write this chapter! Writing them as their superheroes again. This has been brewing in my head for like…oh a month maybe. Just getting around to writing it now! Finally getting some Hit Girl action up in this story! Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP!

Hit Girl: … whoop…whoop?

Me: Gah I love you! *hugs Hit Girl*

Izzy: Hey what about me?

Me: Don't be jealous! *sticks out tongue*

Izzy: *eye twitch* Let go of her before she stabs you! *watches as I jump away from Hit Girl* ANYWAY! On with the chapter! *waves*

* * *

_Chapter 8_

_Girl Power! I love this kid!_

**2 weeks later**

"Come on Dave we don't have all day!"

He walked out of his room pulling his mask over his face. "Patience is a virtue Firecracker!" He said sarcastically.

"Well!" I scoffed. "Not my fault it takes you like 10 more minutes than me to get ready! And I have to put on a fuckin wig! And you should still be thankful I forgive you."

"I am! I hate when we fight."

"Yeah me too." I mumbled "Let's go now!"

"Yeah we have to go to this guy Razul's."

"Favor for Katie?" I said with a smirk.

"You know it."

I laughed. "Damn dude! You guys aren't even dating yet and she is crackin the whip!"

"Hahaha very funny."

"Yeah I know I am! Now come on." And I started to pull him down the street.

**Meanwhile**

_3__rd__ Person P.O.V_

"Daddy?"

"Yes Hit Girl?"

"What are we doing tonight?"

"Well, child, tonight we are going after one of D'Amico's men."

"Again? Oh Big Daddy, I thought we killed them all already!" Said the small 10 year old with purple hair, as her and an older man in a Bat Man like suit went around gathering weapons.

"No complaining Hit Girl! Now…Let's go get some bad guys." They both smiled and swooped out the door, and headed to Razul's apartment.

_Back to Izzy's P.O.V_

**Outside Razul's**

"What the fuck are you supposed to be? The green condom?"

I snickered but covered it up as a cough, and made an angry face.

"No I am here to see Razul." Said Dave.

"Yeah well come on." Said the big guy. "Razul's gonna laugh his ass off when he sees you two!"

We walked into the apartment and I kinda spaced out. Next thing I knew, we were being pulled to the ground and Dave had tasered Razul in the eyebrows. Ouch that had to hurt!

"That's it!" He said to me and Dave. I saw something purple move quickly behind him.

"What the hell?" I muttered.

"You two are so…" And his words were cut off as the blade of a sword looking thing came right through his chest.

We all just sat there in shock. Then, the sword got pulled out and his body dropped to the ground. Revealing… a little purple haired girl?

"Okay you cunts." She said and my mouth dropped open in shock. "Let's see what you can do now." And she proceeded to hop around the room using the couches to run at people sometimes. Once she even turned and flashed me and Dave a grin, which I returned while Dave just muttered, "What the fuck is going on?" and pressed himself further into the corner of the room.

She even chopped off a guy's leg at the knee! That was pretty gnarly. Then this guy came out of the bathroom, saw her and took out a butterfly knife and flipped it around.

"Hey!" She said planting her bow staff in a dead body. "I got one of those too!" She flipped it around with more skill than he did, let out a giggle, and threw it. It hit him right where the sun don't shine, and she ran forward and kicked the knife and he flew into the bathroom. Finally, she slaughtered that whore.

She turned to me and Dave. Dave cowered in fear. I stood up and walked around, surveying the carnage. "Damn kid!"

She just smiled, held out her hand to help Dave up. "It's ok we are on the same side!"

Then a shot rang out. I turned to see the bodyguard fall dead and heard her mumble into a walkie talkie thing.

I stepped forward with a huge smile on my face. "I'm Firecracker. And that dumb shit is…"

"Kick-Ass. I know I saw on the news. Surprised I didn't see you though. You seem more… well you know."

"Yeah I do!"

"Girls." Dave scoffed.

I whirled around as the girl ran around picking up money. "Hold your tongue!"

"Let's go you two! Can't use the door now!"

Me and Dave followed her out the window and onto the roof. She went to leap the building. I reached out and grabbed her arm. "WAIT!"

The man on the billboard stand raised his gun, but she waved him down and looked at me questioningly. "What?"

"Who are you guys?" I asked while I smiled at her.

"I'm Hit Girl. And that's" She said pointing over her shoulder at the man. "Big Daddy."

I waved and nudged Dave who waved nervously. "Bye Hit Girl!" I called after her as she lept to the next building.

Big Daddy gave me and Dave the 'I'm watching you' eyes and Hit Girl waved at me. Then they repelled down the building.

**Later. At home.**

I changed out of my costume and into a black sleep tank and yellow fleece pants and hurried into Dave's room where he was still on the bed wearing his costume.

"Dave?" I whispered. Then we both jumped as we heard a voice behind us.

"Kick…Ass!" We whirled around.

"Big Daddy." I said in a calm voice.

"Hello…there…Firecracker. Nice to…finally meet…you both." He said.

"Why…are we talking…like Adam West?" I asked and Hit Girl and Big Daddy both smirked at me.

"That's his inspiration." Said Hit Girl.

"I see." I said nodding. "Sorry about that dude."

"No offence…taken….Isabel."

"WAIT! How do you know my name?"

"I know…because…his…" He pointed to Dave. "IP…address is …too easy to trace. You should be more careful…Dave."

We both gaped at him. Then Hit Girl held out his Taser cartridge and Big Daddy gave us some shit about keeping it as leverage because he likes us but doesn't trust us.

Then he swooped up his cape and yelled "HIT GIRL! Back to headquarters!" and jumped out the window. Hit Girl walked over to the window slowly then turned around and addressed me. "

"Hey Firecracker." I smiled and she continued. "Think about going to the gym…and work out those guns. Maybe then you can pack a punch."

I laughed. "Sure thing, shorty."

She smirked then turned to Dave and blew him a kiss. "Sweet dreams." And with that she hopped out the window.

On a random whim, I ran over to the open window and stuck out my head. I saw them running down the alley. Hit Girl turned back around and so did Big Daddy. I threw my fist out the window and yelled, "GIRL POWER!"

Big Daddy just shook his head and started walking again. Hit Girl turned to see if he was looking, then threw her fist up in the same way mine was.

I stuck my head back in and Dave and I started laughing. I was beaming. "Holy shit! That is one awesome little girl!"

"Yep. You are going to the gym tomorrow. Aren't you?" He said with a laugh as I walked towards his door.

"Shut up and go to sleep Dave." I said with a laugh and we both said good night and went to sleep in our rooms.

**Next day at the gym. Time: noon**

"Jesus Christ! I am dying!" I said to myself. I had been working out on a punching bag for about an hour and had lifted weights before that and I was hurting…BAD! I gulped down some refreshing water.

I heard the door open and a small voice say, "You don't mind if I sit in here, do you?"

I turned to see a little blonde girl with her hair in pigtails, no more than 10 and a half standing behind me. I swallowed my water and said, "No not at all. It's an open gym. Plus just between you and me, I've been alone for about two hours and am starting to talk to myself."

She laughed and took a seat, "I just have to wait for my daddy to get out of the locker room. Then we are going to practice kick-boxing!" She told me brightly.

I raised my eyebrows and started "What? I mean..."

"Mindy!" A loud male voice said. And we both turned around to see a blonde man with a beard and moustache walking out of the locker room.

"Daddy!" She got up and ran over to him.

_So much for a new friend_, I thought as I heard him scold her.

"Mindy, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?"

"But daddy! She's not a stranger, she's..." and then it trailed off into mumbles and I turned to see her whispering in his ear.

His angry expression turned into a smile as she finished. "Oh…really now?" She nodded. "Well…thank you...for keeping my daughter company…while I was getting ready."

I smiled and waved a hand towards the ground. "No prob dude. She's so….WHOA!" I stopped and just stared at them both.

They both just smiled. "I think she knows." Whispered Mindy.

"Yes it appears she does." He said back to her.

"B-b-but…you…a-a-and…you!" I pointed in between the two of them and they both nodded as if reading my mind. I smiled "You little sneak!" I said to Mindy. "You knew I would take your advice didn't you!"

She nodded, "But of course!"

"How would you like us to help you become...uh….more skilled in the crime fighting arts?" Said the man I knew only as Big Daddy.

"YES!" I yelled excitedly. "But first what are your real names…seeing as you know mine. I won't tell anyone I swear! Not even Kick-Ass!"

He sighed and said "I am Damon and this is my daughter Mindy."

"Nice to meet you guys officially."

"Yeah yeah!" Said Mindy aka Hit Girl with an impatient tone. "Can we just train her now?

"Yes. If you are ready, you can practice with Mindy, Isabel."

I gave Mindy an evil smile. "It's on shorty."

"Girl power?" She said with an innocent smile.

"Girl power!" I returned with a friendly knuckle bump. "Now let's get this party started."

**Three hours later**

I was getting dropped off around the corner from Dave's…my house by the two of them.

Mindy frowned at me as I cringed in pain "I'm so sorry about that. I didn't mean to hurt you really bad."

"No harm done honey." I said as I got out of the car with my gym bag. I smiled sadly at her. She had filled me in on how she had no mom, and Big Daddy aka Damon was all she had. "Hey. You got a piece of paper?" She nodded and handed me a small piece. I pulled out a pen and wrote down my cell phone number and handed it to her.

"If you ever need Firecracker... or if you just want to talk. As Izzy and Mindy, feel free to text me, shorty." I said as I handed her the paper.

She took it and looked at it. Then, she looked up at me "Thank you so much." She said and reached through the window and hugged me.

Damon smiled at me, "That was very nice of you, after the beating she put you through."

I laughed, "Oh that was nothing! I got a broken nose on my first gig! Does this mean you guys fully trust me?"

Damon thought for a minute "No. But we are about…80% there."

I pumped my fist in the air and whispered yes, told them goodbye and walked towards the house. I walked in and Dave was on the couch.

"Rough day at the gym?" He asked as he surveyed me.

"Oh shut up! Yes it sucked! Now I am getting some pizza and we are going to relax and watch Pineapple Express and you are not going to complain about it!" I walked into the kitchen and got pizza.

I heard him getting the movie set up. I walked in and we both looked at each other and smiled as we both screamed "I thought hurricane season was over!" and sat down on the couch laughing, to watch the movie.


	9. Red Mist and unforgivable mistakes

**NOTE: **New year, New chapter! Now introducing Red Mist!

_Chapter 9_

_Red Mist and unforgivable mistakes_

**4 Days Later**

Katie walked over to the table where I was asleep, and Dave, Todd and Marty were chatting like a bunch of women. She slapped my arm, and I lazily raised my head. "Sup?"

"You guys see that new superhero guy yet?"

"What?" asked Dave.

My eyes popped open and I pointed to the TV screen. "Look!"

"Hey can you turn it up?" asked Katie as the guy behind the counter turned it up.

Dave and I exchanged horrified looks as this new hero, Red Mist, told everyone how Kick-Ass showed that blah blah blah. He went on to say that he would be fighting crime 25/8 and he had a website, redmist . org

"Can you turn that down please?" yelled Dave.

"Dave, I wanna go home now." I told him plainly.

"Alright, see you guys later."

As we were walking out, I thought I heard someone say my name, but my mind was elsewhere at the moment.

**Later In Dave's Room**

"Let me message this guy."

"Alright Dave. Whatever, but just try to be nice, I mean…you are his role model after all." I snickered as I plopped down on his bed.

"Oh my god. Izzy look at this." He put the laptop on the bed and I sat up as my mouth dropped open in shock.

"This dude has a full on website! All we have is a God Damn MySpace!" I frowned.

Then Dave checked the Kick-Ass MySpace and I gasped "Look! Red Mist just sent you a message!"

Dave read it, with me over his shoulder; we sat in silence for a few minutes while he typed a reply. "Izzy."

"Yeah?"

"Go get suited up! We are gonna meet Red Mist."

"Sweet!"

**45 Minutes Later**

"Is he here yet?"

I looked around the corner. "Nope."

"How bout now?"

"I swear to God dude! Just practice your moves or something." I said as I slid down the wall. I was super tired lately. I haven't seen Big Daddy or Hit Girl since that day at the gym. Not even a text…oh well.

All of a sudden I heard someone say "Kick-Ass!"

Dave straightened up as I stood up from my spot on the ground. "Red Mist!" said Dave making a macho man pose.

I rolled my eyes and turned and looked at Red Mist just in time to see him jump off the dumpster and land hard on his ankle. "Oh fuck me! That hurt!"

I let out a loud snort and laughed "FAIL!"

He was talking to Kick-Ass aka Dave. They both turned and looked at me, so I stopped laughing and scratched at my wig awkwardly. "Hey I'm Firecracker." I said holding out my hand to him.

He looked at me. "I know. He just told me." He just stared at my hand and went back to telling Dave how much of an inspiration he was to him.

"Well then!" I scoffed.

"Wanna go fight some crime?" I perked up as I heard Red Mist say that.

"Well it's a school night and…" said Dave.

I ran up to Dave's side and smacked his back hard "Nonsense! Of course we do!" I smiled.

"Ok then!" Said Red Mist. "Come on this way you guys. There's something I want to show you!" He said excitedly.

Me and Dave exchanged a worried look but followed him. "HOLY CRAP!" we both yelled as we rounded the corner and came face to hood with the most beautiful car ever.

"Meet the Mist Mobile." Said Red Mist, who had walked up next to Dave.

"Hi Mist Mobile." I mumbled at the car, causing both guys to snort.

Next thing we knew we were driving down the street and Red Mist was explaining his car to us. Then he put on his iPod and Dave began to dance to 'Crazy' by Gnarls Barkley.

Red Mist looked back at me with raised eyebrows. I just laughed and said "He does that." Then he started to dance, I just laughed and pulled out my camera and filmed them.

All of a sudden the car stopped in front of a burning building. Red Mist hopped out, and then Dave did. I scrambled out of the back seat as Dave tried to stop Red Mist from going into the building.

"There could be people in there!" Red Mist yelled back at us as he went running full speed into the building.

Dave looked back at me with panic in his eyes. "Go home Firecracker!"

"But!"

"No buts! Just please go home!" We both yelped as a loud pop came from the building.

"Ok! But please be careful!" I yelled after him as he ran into the burning building.

Before I turned to run, I saw the sign of the store. "Holy shit! Frank's Lumber supplies Plus? What the!" Then I turned and ran as another pop rang out from the building.

**30 Minutes Later**

I climbed in my window crying. I ripped off my mask and wig. I was so worried about Dave it wasn't even funny. I heard a noise behind me and whirled around to see Big Daddy and Hit Girl.

I sighed "Don't you guys knock!" I grabbed a tissue from my nightstand and wiped my eyes.

"No…we don't…besides….this is important." Said Big Daddy. I noticed Hit Girl standing behind him, they both looked pretty pissed. I also noticed how Big Daddy smelled faintly of smoke but shook it off.

"What?" I asked as I took a step towards them. "What happened did Kick-Ass…?"I trailed off.

"No!" snapped Hit Girl from behind Big Daddy.

"Hit Girl!" Big Daddy said calmly. "Maybe we better…let her….explain first."

"Explain what?"

Hit Girl stepped out from behind him. "We were reviewing the tapes from the D'Amico place from 3 weeks ago!" She was fuming. "You'll never guess who we saw on there!"

"Where…is your DVD player?" asked Big Daddy.

I pointed to it and he popped in the DVD and hit play. And by God, there I was. Purple Invader Zim shirt and all stepping out of the elevator with Chris and Aaron.

"Wait!" I said in a puzzled voice. "Why do you guys have cameras in the D'Amico place?"

"None of your business!" yelled Hit Girl. "I can't believe you would hang out with the mob! How stupid are you any way!"

"That mob thing is just a rumor!" I yelled back, thanking God that my uncle worked nights.

"NO it is not!" interjected Big Daddy. Then he pulled out a hand made comic. In it were the details of how Frank D'Amico had him locked in jail, and how this caused his wife's unfortunate suicide.

I threw down the comic. "I didn't know." I mumbled, fresh tears coming to the surface.

" Well…consider…our trust in you….. back to about….. 5%!" said Big Daddy.

"And that's being generous." Said Hit Girl as she handed me back my number. "Take your stupid number, I don't want it."

I swallowed hard as I took back the tiny slip of paper. "Alright."

"This is for your own…good…Firecracker. I suggest…you forget….our real names." Said Big Daddy menacingly.

"Forgotten." I said back in a tiny voice.

"I also suggest you stop hanging out with D'Amico's kid. No matter how cute you think he is!" said Hit Girl.

I nodded wordlessly, as they reclaimed their DVD and slipped out the window. Hit Girl's face popped back into the window and she said, "I really wish that you hadn't done that. It would have been good to have someone trustworthy."

"Still teammates though?" I asked.

She sighed, "I guess since Kick-Ass and everything. But Big Daddy and I work alone!"

I watched the window until she ducked out of sight. Then I closed the window and the curtains and changed out of my costume into pajamas. I heard Dave scramble into his room through his window. My door burst open and I ran to hug him.

"I'm okay Izzy! It's ok."

"Well I'm glad."

"What happened?"

"Well Big Daddy and Hit Girl decided to pop by and pay me a visit."

"What did they want?"

I gulped. "Oh nothing. It's a secret. Now go to bed."

"Alright, night Izzy."

"Hey Dave?"

"Yeah Izzy?"

"I love ya cus." I smiled

"You too. Now sleep time!" Dave said tiredly.

I closed my door and climbed into my bed and pulled the covers up. I sighed deeply. "When did my life become so freakin complicated?" I asked myself. Then I closed my eyes, and was dead to the world.

**Next Morning**

_RING RING, RING RING_

"Answer your damn phone!" called Dave's muffled voice from his room.

"Hello?"

"Izzy?"

"Chris?"

"Yeah."

"What's up?"

"Did you see the news?"

I remembered last night. "Um…no I didn't. What's wrong?"

"My dad's store burned down last night." He sounded sad.

I acted shocked. "Oh my god Chris. Is everyone alright?"

"No. A few people died." Then his tone brightened. "So you want to hang out today?"

I remembered Hit Girl's warning words _"I also suggest you stop hanging out with D'Amico's kid. No matter how cute you think he is!"_

"Um..Chris. I can't hang out today. Family thing."

"Maybe tomorrow then?" He asked.

"I'll have to see." This was killing me!

"Oh…alright then. Bye Izzy."

"Chris. I..." Too late, the line clicked off.

I flopped back down on my bed. "Wow. Is it really worth it? Now I understand why all heroes are loners. "I told myself as I rolled back over onto my stomach and tried to get more sleep, but failed, so I slumped down the stairs and fixed myself breakfast. "What am I gonna do!" I let my head hit the table, then shot back up and clutched my head. "OW!"


	10. Everyday Superhero

**Note: **So! I have been really busy recently which has resulted in no new chapters in *counts on fingers* like 4 months ! WTF! : (! Also, I'm planning to do a sequel whenever I finish this story. I already have an awesome super villain sidekick planned and everything! But anyway, on with the chapter. Characters from Kick-Ass belong to Mark Miller. I got the Kick-Ass DVD for my birthday today! HUZZAH!

**Everyday Superhero**

**1 WEEK LATER**

"Oh Davey." I poked his arm from across the booth that we were sitting in at Atomic Comics. Dave, as usual, was sitting next to Katie. To tell the truth, I am so shocked that Katie hasn't found out that he isn't gay yet! I was sitting next to Erica and Todd and Marty had chairs pulled up to the end of the table.

"Yeah Izzy?" Dave looked up from his Spider-man comic.

"Are we still doing movie night later?" I smiled at him. I didn't really mean movie night of course; I was really asking if we were going to go patrolling later. I had been going pretty much by myself for the past week, and I wanted Dave to go with me tonight.

"Sorry, Izzy. Can't do it tonight." Dave smiled sadly at me.

The smile slid from my face.

"Oh I'm sorry Izzy. If I knew you and Dave had cousinly bonding plans I wouldn't have invited him to sleep over!" Katie told me apologetically. She is honestly one of the most sincere people I have ever met, I'm so lucky to have her as a friend.

"It's alright Katie." I shrugged. "I'll just chill out and watch TV tonight. It's all good." I picked up my coffee and took a sip.

"Why don't you call Chris? " Erica asked me innocently. I gulped and started coughing; the coffee went down the wrong pipe.

"Erica!" I growled at her. "Shut. UP!"

"D'Amico?" Dave asked.

"Yes." I answered, pointing a finger in his face. "Not a word David. Not a fucking word."

"Why don't you go to the movies with me instead?" Todd smiled at me.

I panicked in my head, I had never meant movies! "I am actually starting to feel kind of sick. Sorry Toddie, maybe next week."

He smiled sadly at me.

"Well…I'm gonna go…skim through some comics, alright?" I stood up and walked over to the shelf where they kept the 'Scott Pilgrim' comics. I picked the first one up and started flipping through. I used to have them all, but I guess I lost them somewhere along the way. All of a sudden I jolted forward when someone bumped into me from behind.

"UGH!" I grunted as I hit the shelf. I looked over at the table where my friends sat and saw them all staring at me, then quickly look away; Marty even got up and sort of ran for the door. I turned around slowly and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh! Hey Chris." I started to smile then internally smacked myself. I completely forgot that I wasn't supposed to talk to him!

"_Bad Izzy! Very BAD Izzy!" _My mind screamed at me.

"So, how have you been?" I asked scratching my head awkwardly.

"I've been good. And yourself?" Chris responded in a rather dull voice. I raised an eyebrow.

"I've been…ok I guess." I shrugged then turned back around and grabbed my comics.

"You want me to buy those for you?" He asked me with a smirk.

"Nah dude. I got this!" I pulled 30 dollars out of my pocket. My phone went off in my pocket. "Un momento Senor!" I mumbled putting my comics back down. The text message was only four words but it was enough to scare me straight.

"_**You are being watched.**__"_ Was what the entire message read. I shoved my phone back in my pocket, picked up my comics and walked up to the counter. I didn't realize till I got there that Chris was right behind me. He leaned against the counter.

"So…you wanna come over? We should talk." He told me seriously.

Sometimes you get allergy attacks at bad times, THIS was the perfect time. I started sneezing up a storm, I wasn't even faking. I paid for my comics and turned to him, still sneezing. "Sorry Chris, but…I'm kind of a mess right now." Dave walked up behind me.

"Ready to go?" He questioned me, staring down Chris.

"Yeah. Let's go. Bye Chris." I smiled sadly as Dave and I walked towards the door.

"Don't even say it Dave." I snapped as soon as we were outside. We walked home in silence.

**8:00 PM**

I woke up from the best nap in the history of my life it felt like. The reason I woke up was right in front of me. I jumped backwards on my bed and smacked my head on a wall. "Shit…you scared the fuck out of me!" I hissed.

"Sorry…about that…Firecracker." Big Daddy said stepping out from behind my door and standing next to Hit Girl on the right side of my bed.

"Yeah, but not really." Hit Girl smirked. "Did you get my text?" She questioned me.

For some reason, I immediately thought of 'A Very Potter Sequel' and Umbridge harassing Dumbledore with texts. I had to stifle a giggle, but I snorted loudly then pulled a serious face, while inside I was dying of laughter. "Yes I got your text. I thought you threw away my number?" I said calmly.

"It was…already in our…contacts." Big Daddy told me.

"Ah…I see. So why are you guys here exactly?" I asked, getting out of my bed and stretching my arms over my head.

"Where's Kick-Ass?" Hit Girl asked me, peering into the hallway.

"Sleepover with his best girlfriend." I snorted. "Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"Get changed. We have work to do." Hit Girl smiled widely at me.

"Or rather…we have work…for you…to do." Big Daddy finished.

"What do I get out of it?" I walked over to my closet and pulled out the box with my costume in it, I had modified it since I had last worn it. I pulled it out of the box. It was now just a plain red corset top, red leather pants, and a red wig with a streak of black in the front. The mask was still just a piece of black fabric, I would have to fix that.

"Well…you can keep your fingers." Hit Girl said with a crazy little grin. I walked past her and into the bathroom next door.

"All right! All right!" I groaned as I changed. I walked out 5 minutes later. "Fine. Let's go!" I snapped angrily, actually holding in excitement. We all climbed out my window and into the darkness of the outside.

"So…what do I have to do?" I asked raising an eyebrow. We were standing in an abandoned alley.

"Well, we have it on good authority that someone has a hit put out on Steve Angelo." Hit Girl told me in a bored voice.

"Oh really? What authority?" I asked getting even more curious.

"None of your business." She growled back at me.

"Now, now Hit Girl!" Big Daddy scolded her in his calm voice. "Firecracker…does it really matter? Someone's life…depends on it."

"Lemme guess! The hit was put out by Frank D'Amico?" I looked at both of them, already knowing the answer.

"She's smarter than she looks." Hit Girl smirked.

"Yes…it was." Big Daddy nodded.

"Lovely." I rolled my eyes. "Um…do you guys have any weapons I can borrow?" I was embarrassed that I had left the knives I bought back at the house.

Hit Girl rolled her eyes, and Big Daddy whispered something to her.

"Fine!" She yelled. She reached into her pocket and pulled out about 3 knives.

"That's all?" I asked sarcastically.

"Take it or leave it." She said impatiently.

I took the knives from her hand. There was a clatter from around the corner.

"Showtime." Big Daddy said as I turned towards the noise.

"What?" My voice was all shaky as I turned back around and saw the two of them already running down the alley away from me.

"Fucking gravy. Just fucking fabulous!" I muttered to myself. I took in a deep breath and walked around the corner to see a sight almost like the one on the first night me and Kick-Ass went on patrol. "Hey, fuckers!" I yelled. One of them stopped.

"Hey check this chick out." I heard him mumble to his companions. "You lost little girl?" He asked in a way that made my blood run cold.

I pulled out a knife. "No, not lost. Found just what I was looking for." I pulled my best psychotic grin and charged at them.

**NOTE: **This chapter was intended to be released WAY earlier and also WAY longer than this! But my dumbass laptop shut down in the middle of me typing it! I had like a whole thing going on and UGH! I guess that will all be next chapter! So stay tuned babes!

Read and Review please! ^_^


	11. Smile For The Camera

_**Note: **_This was originally supposed to go along with the chapter that I posted a while ago . But it didn't happen so….here it is. Without further ado! Firecracker's first city wide appearance! Enjoy!

**Smile for the Camera**

_**The next day**_

_Dave's POV_

Katie was sitting next to me in Atomic. I have to admit, Marty, Todd, and Izzy were right. The longer that I pretended to be gay, the worse it was getting. I don't think I can take another sleepover watching Ugly Betty! There's only so much a man can take of that show.

I looked around the table; Marty was trying to convert Erika to a comic book reader. Todd was flipping through a random comic. Katie was sitting next to me chattering away to Erika from across the table. There was someone missing…

"Hey have you guys seen Izzy?" I asked. Todd looked up and around.

"Nah man, I called her…but she said she was sick."

"Oh… alright." Something was odd about it. I had a feeling that Izzy wasn't really sick. I kind of wished I had gone out with her on patrol yesterday. I mean what if she was hurt? But Todd had talked to her…so she had to be alright.

All of a sudden, a voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Hey man! Turn that up!"

We all whirled around and saw Chris D'Amico pointing at the TV. We all turned around slowly as the volume turned up. I took a big gulp of my coffee.

The person on the TV started talking. They were replaying an interview that looked like it had happened sometime last night. "Thank you Jane! Now I am here with a brand new superhero on the scene. Now why don't you tell the viewers at home your name?"

"Gladly!" Said a chipper voice off screen as I took another drink of my coffee and immediately choked on it when the camera turned to the person that had spoken. "My name is Firecracker."

There, right on the television screen in front of me, was Izzy. I couldn't believe it. That was what she had done yesterday.

"So, Firecracker," The news reporter, who I think was named Sarah, continued "Why don't you tell us what happened here."

"Sure!" Izzy smiled proudly. "Well, I was just walking around, patrolling, as ya do. When I heard these yells and bangs back here. So of course being me, I decided to check it out."

"And what exactly did you find?" Sarah quizzed her, shoving the mic further towards her face. Izzy's eyes widened a little and she backed up.

"Um…I saw 4 guys beating up on this one guy. So I stepped in." She said before she was cut off again.

"And what did you do?"

"I handled it." Izzy groaned in an annoyed way. I held back a smile as I took another drink. Even as Firecracker, she was still the same old Izzy.

The camera cut back to the interviewer and she continued. "You saved a man's life. How does that make you feel?"

The camera flashed back to Firecracker as she looked down. You could tell she was blushing. "It makes me feel great." She shifted her weight from once leg to another and winced. "It's why I started doing this." She looked up into the camera and flashed a winning smile.

"So who is your favorite superhero?" The interviewer asked her.

Izzy's face lit up, she was back in her element. Luckily everyone else was focused on the TV and didn't see me grinning at the TV. "I really love Batman. Oh and Wolverine…is he really a superhero though? NO! My all-time favorite is Spiderman!" She laughed. Everyone in the comic book store that I could see cracked a smile. I heard a laugh from behind me. I turned around and saw D'Amico practically leaning on one of the shelves watching the interview with a stupid grin on his face. I turned back around as the interview continued.

"So Firecracker, who was your inspiration? By the looks of your costume I'm guessing it was Red Mist, would I be right in saying that?"

The grin immediately dropped from Izzy's face. She set her jaw and closed her eyes like she always does when she is trying to control herself. She opened them slowly and spoke in a hard voice. "Listen. I was not inspired by that…idiot, Red Mist! I was around right when Kick-Ass started! I got my nose broken saving his dumb self. He would have gotten his head bashed in with a trash can. Sorry but I wasn't inspired by either of them. I was inspired by myself wanting to do something to make the world a better place. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go pick the gravel out of my knee." The camera cut down to her right knee. The leather of her pants was ripped, exposing her bare knee, you could see it was completely covered in little pieces of rocks…and blood.

The camera cut back up to her face as the interviewer stuttered out a goodbye. Izzy grabbed the mic from her one last time "Just a warning out there to the people that worked with these scumbags that were out here tonight. I'm watching you. I know what you're doing. And I will stop you." She smiled wickedly. "Have a nice life." She pushed the microphone back into Sarah's hand and limped off. Sarah turned back to the camera, "Back to you Jane." The camera cut back to the studio. "That was from last night. And you heard it here first folks, the first real life female superhero." The man behind the counter turned down the TV once again. Everyone at my table turned back around at faced each other in silence for a second. Then they all exploded into chatter.

Erika and Katie were jabbering on about how she seemed like a badass. Todd and Marty were talking about how hot the new superhero chick looked in leather. I was too busy in my own thoughts that I didn't notice the person walk up behind me until I felt the hand on my shoulder. I whirled around so fast that my glasses went crooked. Izzy was standing behind me, looking extremely tired, wearing yoga pants, a hoodie, and converse. She yawned. "Sup bitches? I miss anything?"

_**A/N:**_ I am legitimately so sorry that it took so long for me to get this up. But oh my god I have been so busy. I'll be working on it more and I'll probably put up another chapter later today or tomorrow. This chapter..is not really what I expected but I like the way it turned out

_**Read & review, doll faces.**_ xoxo


	12. Changes

**A/N:** So yeah, I'm having another burst of inspiration! That probably means I'll be posting a few chapters over the next couple of days. I'll probably make them longer chapters too because the only reason the last one and this one were so short because I wanted to post them already. So here's the next chapter. All characters except for Izzy belong to Mark Miller. I also managed to get my hands on Photoshop! (Thank you mommeh) and did pictures of Jennifer Lawrence as Firecracker and Izzy and posted them on my page! Check it out, it might not be fantastic but it took me like 2 hours and it's my first attempt. So, I also started college this past Monday (that's part of the reason that this chapter is a bit late :P) and on my way home from school the other day I picked up KA2 #3. Holy shit that was amazing. I mean the thing with the dog was a little crazy but I was excited that we got to see The Mother Fucker! And oh my god. Toxic Mega Cunts. I almost died.

But anyway, on with the chapter. Kick-Ass and all of its characters belong to Mark Millar

**Changes**

_Izzy's POV_

Katie stood up to let me into the booth. I slid in next to Dave, being careful not to hit my knee and Katie took the seat on my other side.

"So!" I started and cleared my throat. "I miss anything interesting?"

"Oh my god, Izzy! There was this hero, and she was a girl and she was on the news. She was so freakin awesome she was listing off comic book heroes and…" Todd rambled.

"Whoa! Slow down there, Speedy." I held up my hand to stop him. "Start from the beginning. Or maybe Marty should tell me, since you look like you're about to explode."

I could feel Dave staring at me and I shifted in my seat a little bit. "I'll tell you!" Dave said in a bright voice.

I turned my head to the right and gave him a look that said "_If you blow my cover, I will rip your face off." _

"Go ahead, Dave." I waved my hand in his direction. "Tell me what I missed." I smiled sweetly and rested my chin in my hands. He told me exactly what had been shown on TV. Nothing more, nothing less. "Wow." I faked being shocked. "A girl superhero…how awesome!" I let out a little laugh.

"She seemed pretty bad ass." Todd told me enthusiastically. Dave looked at me out of the corner of his eye and I kicked him under the table, hitting my injured knee on the underside in the process.

"Aw, fuck!" I yelled, reaching under the table to grab my knee. "Damn it!"

"You okay, Iz?" Marty asked.

I moved my hand out from under the table and gave him a thumbs up. "Just fucking peachy." I told him through gritted teeth. That fucking hurt. "Hey um..Katie, can you move out a bit? I have to go to the bathroom."

A few seconds later, I was out of the booth and making my way to the bathroom in the back of the store, trying not to limp. I was about halfway there when I saw Chris and Aaron standing near the comic shelf closest to me. I opened my mouth to say hi, but closed it right away when I heard Aaron say something to Chris in a hushed voice. I caught one or two words, "Dad….pissed…home."

"_Well shit."_ I thought. "_There goes that option."_ I had actually been looking for him to talk to for the past few days. I missed him. He was normal, well as normal as he could be with Frank D'Amico as a dad. But I was just looking for a break from everything else. The two of them started walking towards me. "Hey Chris." I said in a bright voice.

He gave me a little glance as he walked past me. "Yeah, hi Izzy. I'd love to talk but I have to run."

"Oh..well bye." I muttered as I turned around and watched them walk out the door. I sighed and turned back around and started walking back towards the bathroom again. "Nice Izzy. Real nice." I mumbled under my breath. I pushed open the door to the bathroom. It wasn't one with stalls. It just had one toilet, one sink, and a door with a lock. I closed the door and locked it as soon as I walked in. I limped a little bit over to the mirror and stared at myself.

I had dark circles under my eyes from the late nights patrolling and barely getting any sleep. I could still spot a few little scratches on my face from fighting last night. You could tell just by looking that my nose had been broken a few months ago. Even my hair just looked…tired. The waves in it looked limp and lifeless instead of bouncy and shiny. In other words, I looked completely different than I did when I arrived in New York a few months before. I was becoming less like Isabel and more like Firecracker. Even my personality had changed. I was more sarcastic than usual, irritable, angry, and downright mean sometimes. As much as I tried to act like the old me around my friends, I knew that being Firecracker was changing who I was, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

**A/N:** I'll try to have more chapters up this weekend. It's Labor Day so I have a 4 day weekend since I don't have college on Tuesdays so expect more chapters! :D


	13. Lucky 13

**A/N:** Ah, oh my god. It's been over a month since I updated. Shit. Sorry guys, I've just been really busy with school and everything. But I'm back now! And I'm going to try my hardest to get another chapter up tomorrow! Hugs and kisses 3

_**Chapter 13**_

**_Lucky13_**

_Izzy's POV_

I let out a sigh and took once last look in the mirror before walking to the door. I unlocked it and walked back out into Atomic Comics. My leg still hurt from yesterday. Thank god that I had enough smarts to go and find Big Daddy and Hit Girl after I finished being interviewed by that dumb bitch. "_Now Izzy, you know that the interviewer was just doing her job."_ I shook my head to clear it. My stupid fucking subconscious. Stupid comic book store. Stupid leather pants. Stupid gangsters carrying their fucking knives everywhere and stabbing me in the fucking leg.

I slid back into the booth next to Dave and looked around. "Hey, where'd Katie go?" I asked him.

"She had to go to one of her things." He waved his hand at me. "Erica had to go home, so they just left together."

"Ah, Davey boy. Katie still think you're gay?" I asked him as I grabbed his coffee and took a drink.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "That's my coffee."

I set it back down in front of him. "Well, I knew that Captain Obvious. I just don't give a shit!" I shrugged and leaned back in my seat.

"You alright? You're acting more….bitchy than usual." Marty gave me a concerned look.

I held up my hands in surprise and leaned forward across the table. "You just call me a bitch? Damn boy. That cut deep." I traced an imaginary tear down my cheek. "You never answered my question,cus!" I turned back to Dave with a smile.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yes. Yes, Katie still thinks I'm gay." He frowned.

I stared at him for a second and then let out a little laugh. "That's just fucking brilliant! You're going to tell her soon aren't you? You know the longer the wait, the more convincing your gay act will get and the more pissed off she'll be when you tell her!" I leaned down and grabbed my bag from under the table. "Take it from me, Davey. It'd be better to tell her sooner rather than later." I said honestly with a shrug. "But you know, it's your choice."

"Izzy's right, yah know." Todd chimed in. "I mean you keep watching 'Ugly Betty' and shit man. You keep watching that shit, maybe you'll actually turn gay!" He laughed and Marty smacked him in the back of the head.

"God. You're such a dumbass." Marty shook his head at Todd and then went back to reading his comic.

"Yeah Todd. That was not was I was hinting at all!" I shook my head and then slid out of the booth. I took a deep breath as I moved my leg. "I'm, uh, gonna head home now." I said to Dave. "My head is killing me and I just can't concentrate on anything right now." I shook my head. "But we'll hang out later, yeah?" I walked up behind the booth and ruffled Dave's hair.

"Yeah. We have stuff to talk about later anyway." Dave said, turning around and giving me a serious look. "Take so Tylenol when you get home, okay? Maybe lie down, get some rest. Stay off your feet." He looked me right in the eyes.

I nodded. "Alright. I'll do all that." I gave him a little smile and then looked at Todd and Marty. "Bye guys, see you tomorrow."

"Feel better." Todd said with a sad smile.

"Yeah, bye Izzy." Marty mumbled under his breath without looking up from his comic.

I turned and walked toward the door. I pushed it open and walked out into the fresh air. I took a deep breath and smiled to myself, then began my walk home.

**Flashback~ Last night**

After I finished the interview, I limped over to an alleyway away from all the flashing lights and cameras. I leaned against the wall and slid down it. I took a deep breath and poked at the rip in my pants. "Ah fuck." I hissed and bit back tears. During the fight, one of them had stabbed me. Luckily, it wasn't deep and hadn't hit anything major, but it was still bleeding pretty badly. I heard footsteps approaching. "Fuck." I mumbled.

"You did…well." The person said.

My head snapped up. "You! You led me into that shit! I was fucking outnumbered, I could have died!"

"Stop being such a fucking drama queen." Hit Girl snapped. "You actually did well. Quit bitching."

"Um, excuse me. But did you just get stabbed in the leg and then have to get interviewed by some dumbass? No. No you didn't. So let me bitch." I growled.

"We can…patch that...up...for you." Big Daddy said and motioned to my leg.

"Well, it's the least you guys can do." I rolled my eyes.

Hit Girl took a step closer to me, I flinched backwards. "Get a grip." She rolled her eyes at me. "I'm going to help you up, dumbass." She held out her hand to me. I looked at it then back up at her before reaching up and taking it. She grunted as she pulled me to my feet. I let out a hiss when my leg brushed against the wall.

"Come on...Hit Girl. Get her…to the…car." Big Daddy called back at us as he made his way down the alley.

The two of us exchanged shocked and annoyed looks and then looked back at his retreating figure. "Can't you just bring the car back here, man? I mean…I'm twice the size of this munchkin!" I yelled. "Only kidding, Hit Girl." I looked back down at her.

"Whatever, you better be fucking grateful I didn't leave your sorry ass on the ground." She growled.

"I know you don't trust me, but didn't this make it up to you? Even a little bit? I'm sorry that I was hanging out with a D'Amico. But I mean, fuck!" I sighed.

She shook her head. "Frank D'Amico is the reason my mom is dead, Firecracker. I don't know if I can ever really trust you."

A car pulled up in front of us and Big Daddy got out of the driver's side. He opened the passenger side door and instructed Mindy to help me in. They took me back to what they told me was "Safe house B". They stitched up the wound on my leg and gave me medication for the pain. I fell asleep there, and when I woke up, I was back in my room. I was still in my costume, so I changed as quickly as I could into pajamas, being extra careful of the stitches and then crawled back into bed. That was at 4AM. When I woke up again, it was 1PM. That's when I went and met Dave at Atomic.

**Present**

I walked up the front steps of my uncle's house and dug around in my bag for the house keys. I grabbed the end of the lanyard when I felt it and pulled the keys out. "There you are, you little buggers." I mumbled at the keys dangling in front of me. I unlocked the door quickly and walked inside, relocking the door once I was in. I tossed my bag on the floor near the couch and made my way upstairs to my room.

I stopped in the doorway and looked at my nightstand. "Okay. I'm like 90% _you_ weren't there when I left today." I walked over and picked up a little bottle of pills. Underneath it was a note.

_Firecracker, _

_Thought you might be wanting some more of these. I won't be able to stand you're bitching about your leg. That's all you did last night. But anyway, you're fucking welcome for this. You owe me one._

_Hit Girl_

I looked from the note to the bottle. I unscrewed the top and took out a pill. "Huh." I smiled softly, recognizing it as one of the pain pills they'd given me last night. "Hit Girl you are a godsend." I shook my head and let out a little chuckle. I placed the pill back in the bottle and screwed the cap back on. I walked over to my dresser, opened the underwear drawer and stuffed the little bottle underneath everything. I closed the drawer and walked back over to my nightstand. Sitting back down on my bed, I picked the note back up and turned it over. She'd even written down instructions on how long to wait between each one.

Gotta admit, for someone who didn't trust me as far as she can throw me, she sure seemed to care about my safety. I folded up the note and stuck it in the top drawer of my nightstand. I stood up, walked over to my desk and sat down. I yawned and turned on my laptop.

I grabbed my IPod from its normal spot and put my headphones in as I waited for the internet to connect. I pressed play and leaned back in my chair. "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails started playing and I bobbed my head as I sang along. I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

After the internet finally connected, I logged onto my Myspace first. "No messages, as per usual." I mumbled to myself as I clicked around on the page. After a few minutes of playing games, I logged out. "Time for the moment of truth." I typed in another email address and password. I took a deep breath and clicked sign in.A huge grin spread across my face. "Holy shit!" I laughed. "Oh my god." I laughed harder as I clicked on the inbox. "25 fucking unread messages! Well, it's not exactly the hundreds that Kick-Ass gets everyday but I'm getting there!" I mumbled to myself and did a little dance in my chair. Not even 24 hours after Firecracker's debut and I already had 2,000 Myspace friends. I was on a roll.


	14. What Am I Doing?

**A/N:** Let me just say, I'm proud of myself for getting this far with the story! I usually never have enough inspiration to do stuff like this but this story just…I love writing it. But anyway, I read issue 4 of Kick-Ass 2 the other day and oh my god. Some of it literally made my jaw drop in shock. Oh my god, the Mother Fucker ain't even messin around. Straight up, though. He's just so evil, oh my god I can't even. Damn the 6 week wait for the next one! Anyway on with the story.

**Chapter 14**

**What Am I Doing?**

I ran a hand through my hair and smiled at the screen. "Wow." I mumbled as I looked through the messages. None of them were asking for help, but most were from girls and even several from guys, saying how glad they were to see a female superhero on the streets. "Anytime, babes." I smiled to myself and closed my laptop. I leaned back in my chair and stared up at the ceiling.

I sat up straight and looked out my window. "Eh, I'll take a nap." I stood up and walked over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of pajama shorts and a baggy sleep t-shirt. I took off the clothes I was wearing and threw them carelessly into the closet. I pulled the shirt over my head and moved my hair so it wasn't tucked in the collar, then I pulled on the shorts. I sat down on my bed and traced a finger along the stiches on my leg. I sighed. Never in a million years did I imagine I'd be a superhero, let alone be injured on the job. Lying back on my bed, I rested my head on my pillow and pulled the covers up to my chin. Within a few seconds, I was out again, sleeping peacefully.

"Wake up!" A loud voice said.

I groaned and snuggled deeper into the covers. "5 more minutes."

"No, Izzy. We need to talk. _Now." _The person said.

"Agh, fuck off." I yelled, eyes still closed. A pillow hit the side of my head and I shot up in bed, looking around my room. "You fucker." I growled when my eyes landed on Dave. "Why'd you hit me with a pillow?" I asked him as I rubbed my eyes.

"Like I said. We need to talk." He said in a serious voice.

"Fine. Fine." I yawned and threw the covers off of myself and swung my lungs over the edge of the bed. "Come sit."

He walked over and grabbed the desk chair. He dragged it over so that he was sitting in front of me. "Where were you last night?"

"I went out on patrol. You were out with little miss Katie. One of us had to be out there making sure people don't get fucked up." I said, matter-of-factly.

"You got on the news." He smiled a little bit.

"Indeed I did. I had to pay a small price though." I pointed to my leg.

"Shit! What happened?" He asked in a worried voice.

"Chill, Davey. It's fine." I waved my hand at him. "One of those fuckers had a knife and welp, he did what you do with a knife. Stab." I shrugged. " It's fine though. Big Daddy and Hit Girl helped patch me up." I smiled.

"They did?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. It was the least they could do. After all, they were the ones that wanted me to handle those guys." I rolled my eyes. Dave looked like he was about to say something but I cut him off. "It's fine. I would have probably found them myself anyway. I mean, they were in the area I patrol every other day, anyway!"

He looked me in the eyes. I guess to see whether I was lying or not, which I wasn't. He shook his head. "Fine. But that's only half of what we have to talk about."

I groaned.

"Don't do that. I'm just concerned. You're my cousin, Isabel. All I have left family-wise is you and my dad."

I bit my lip. "Okay. I'll listen."

"You don't seem yourself lately. You seem…angry, and distant. Izzy, if there's something going on…"

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing is going on, Dave. I'm fine! Seriously! I'm just growing out of things."

"Growing out of your friends?" He questioned me.

"What!" I almost yelled. "I'm still friends with everyone, man! Just because I don't hang around with them every fucking day like you do, that doesn't mean I'm abandoning them!" I shook my head.

"I think…maybe you should stop being Firecracker." He said quietly. I gaped at him in shock. "I mean, only for a few days!" He said quickly.

"I can't! She's part of who I am! It's like me asking you to quit being Kick-Ass!" I snapped at him.

"Izzy, I…" He started.

I cut him off. "No, Dave. You can't make me do shit!" I yelled at him. "Get out of my room."

"What?" He looked at me, confused.

I stood up. "You heard me!" I pointed to the door. "Get out of my room." I repeated.

"Why are you acting like I'm attacking you?" He stood up and looked down at me.

"Because! You're trying to tell me what to do! You are _not_ my dad! You can't tell me what to do!" I screamed.

Dave looked down at me in shock. It was the first time I'd even mentioned my dad in months.

I looked down at my feet and tried to fight back the tears. I covered my mouth with both my hands.

Dave hugged me. "It's okay, Izzy." He mumbled.

I burst into tears and hugged him tighter. "I'm so sorry I yelled at you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I cried.

He stepped back and out of the hug. "Hey."

I looked up at him, still crying.

"It's fine. It'll be okay. You need to be alone right now?" He asked me.

I nodded and wiped the tears from underneath my eyes. "Yeah. Maybe I'll go for a walk or something." I said quietly. "I just need to clear my head."

He gave me another quick hug. "Okay." He ruffled my hair. "Well, I'll be home later. If you still want to talk." He smiled sadly and turned and walked out of my room. I walked over and closed the door.

Turning back to face my room, I shook my head. "Fuck." I mumbled to myself. "You're fucking snapping out, Iz." I walked over and grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand and wiped my eyes. "Ugh." I threw it into the little trash bin.

I shuffled over to my closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a grey Rolling Stones t-shirt. I took off my pajamas and folded them, leaving them on my bed for later. I got changed, then walked over to my mirror and ran a brush through my hair a few times. After a few minutes of digging through the shies I had stacked in the closet, I found a pair of Rocket Dog's I hadn't worn in a while. Sitting down on the floor, I pulled the shoes on and tied them. I grabbed the doorknob to help me stand up and then walked over to my bedroom door and opened it. Stepping out into the hallway, I took one quick look back into my room at my reflection in the mirror. "Eh, good enough." I shrugged and grabbed the railing on the stairs as I began to walk down them.

I stopped by the side of the couch where I'd thrown my bag. Reaching into the bag, I pulled out my hoodie and my cellphone. I pulled my arms through the sleeves of the hoodie, zipped it up, and stuck my cellphone in the pocket on the right side. I grabbed my keys from where I had thrown them and headed out the front door. Once I got outside, I locked the front door.

Turning around, I ran down the small flight of steps that led to the sidewalk and turned to the left. I didn't even know where I was headed. I was just glad to be back out of the house and I was happy to be alone.


	15. Just A Bit Awkward

**A/N:** Since I have no school today, more updates! After this, I'm going to try to update at least once a week. I'm thinking once I finish this story, which I don't know when that will be, I might write a sequel that occurs during Kick-Ass 2. What do you guys think? Ah well, all the characters from Kick-Ass belong to Mark Millar and Izzy belongs to me.

**Chapter 15**

**Just a bit awkward**

I was walking past a large building when I stopped and turned around. Looking up at the sky, I could see how tall the building was. I smiled to myself and walked back to the door. As I was about to start up the stairs, someone grabbed my arm.

"Sorry doll. You can't go in there."

I frowned and pulled my arm out of the person's grasp. I turned and glared up at them. It was a man. He was dressed in a fancy jacket with a whole bunch of buttons and he even had a little hat. I smirked. "Yeah, okay. Whatever, Mr. Doorman."

He glared down at me. "Listen, little girl. No one gets in this building unless Mr. D'Amico says so."

I smiled brightly. "Ah! Mr.D'Amico! I'm best friends with his son. You know, Chris?" I folded my arms over my chest. "One phone call to Chris and I'll bet I get in." I raised an eyebrow at him, challenging him.

He rolled his eyes and led me up the stairs, and motioned for the man behind the desk to open the door. "Follow me." He led me into the lobby.

I remembered the first time I'd been here. I had totally flipped out. I was amazed by it. Now, I was just bored. I followed him up to the circular desk in the middle and leaned on it.

He walked around to the other side, picked up the phone and pressed a button. Looking up, he pointed a finger at me. "Stay right there."

I held up my hands. "Where the fuck else am I going to go?" I whispered. Putting my hands in my hoodie pockets, I looked around, taking in the beauty of the lobby. I smiled and then looked back over to where the doorman was on the phone. Seems the person had finally decided to pick up the phone.

"Yes, Mr. D'Amico. I understand you're…" He stopped to let Frank talk.

I pretended to be observing the ceiling, but really I was taking in every word that was said, and trying to hear what Frank was saying on the other line.

"Yeah but…" He was cut off again. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He looked annoyed. "There's a girl down here. Says she's friends with Chris."

I heard Frank clearly.

"Friends with Chris? What the fuck."

"I don't know boss. But she said one call to Chris can get her in." He laughed.

"That's because it's true, dickhead." I snapped at him. I turned and glared at him.

He held up his finger at me and I kept glaring at him. "The boss wants to know what you look like and how you know Chris."

I raised an eyebrow at him and let out a laugh. "What are you? Fucking blind?" I laughed harder. "Jesus, man. I'm standing right in front of you! Think you'd be able to tell what I look like!"

He shot me a nasty look as I coughed and slowly stopped laughing. "Well, she's on the taller side." He said, looking me up and down. "She's got uh…" He put his hand over the speaker. "What color are your eyes?" He asked me in a whisper.

"Brown." I said with a nod.

"She's got brown eyes. Uh..." He looked at me and I pointed to my hair. " Oh, and she's got long, wavy brown hair. Yes, sir." He nodded and waved me over.

"Hm." I tilted my head to the side.

"He wants to know how you know Chris." He told me.

"Ah. I see." I brushed my hair behind my ear. "Tell him…oh! Tell him I'm the girl from the movie theater!" I smiled and leaned across the counter.

He waved his hand in my face. I backed up and stood up straight, taking a deep breath and letting it out.

"Yeah, boss. She said she's the chick from the movie theater." The doorman said into the phone. "Mhm." He nodded. "Yes, sir." He nodded again. "Alright." He hung up the phone and sighed.

"Well?" I asked.

"Follow me." He grabbed a key card from behind the desk and then walked over to the elevator. I raised an eyebrow and stayed where I was. "Do you want to go up there or not?" He asked in an annoyed voice.

I grinned and ran over. I stopped in front of him, "Open the door!" I bounced up and down excitedly.

He shook his head and scanned the key card. The doors open and he motioned for me to step inside.

I walked into the elevator, remembering Hit Girl and Big Daddy's hidden cameras. At that moment, I didn't give a shit. I just wanted to see my friend. I missed him.

The doorman reached in and pushed the button for the floor I had to go to. He grabbed the door before it could close and pointed a finger in my face. "Don't get off this elevator before you reach their floor. If anyone else steps into the elevator, don't speak to them, don't even look at them. Got it?" He hissed.

I took a step backward, farther into the lift. "Got it." I nodded.

"Good." He smiled and released the door. "Have a nice day." He said as it slid closed.

I took a few steps back until I felt the wall against my back. I leaned my head back, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Running a hand through my hair, I thought about the last time I was here. Everything had been much simpler then. I opened my eyes and straightened myself up. As much as I wanted things to go back to the way they were, I knew it was pretty much impossible. Looking up, I saw that Chris' floor was next.

I forced a smile as the door opened. Walking out into the hallway, I looked both ways. The place seemed deserted. Suddenly, I picked up on chatter coming from down the hall. I turned to my right and started walking slowly down the hall. I came to a stop outside of a wooden door and pressed my ear against it.

"Another fucking superhero?" Frank's voice boomed from behind the door. My eyes went wide.

"Dad, calm down!" I heard Chris say.

"Yeah, Frankie. You're really losing it lately." I heard another man say.

"I'm losing it because some dick in a wetsuit and some slut dressed in leather are out there fucking up my business!" Frank yelled.

I scoffed and mumbled a few choice words under my breath.

"Shit!" Chris said on the other side of the door.

"What?" Both men said.

"Dad! Didn't you say Izzy's coming up here?" He sounded panicked.

My eyes went wide. I backed away from the door, turned and walked as quietly I could. I had to get back to at least outside the elevator.

Just as I reached the doors to the elevator, I heard the door to the room open.

"Izzy!" Chris called down the hall.

I turned around and smiled. "Hey!" I walked back down the hall and hugged him. "I missed you, man." I said.

"I missed you too, Iz." He said quietly and hugged me back. I pulled away from the hug and turned to smile at his dad.

"Nice to see you again, sir." I said politely, when in my head I was cursing him out and kicking his ass.

"Nice to see you again too." He nodded. "Didn't I tell you to call me Frank?" He asked with a smile.

I laughed. "I think so."

The other man cleared his throat. I turned to look at him.

"Hi there." He smiled at me.

"Uh…hi." I smiled, a little bit uncomfortable.

"Ah. Izzy, this is Joe. He works with my dad." Chris said from beside me.

"Oh! Nice to meet you, Joe." I held out my hand for him to shake.

"Nice to meet you as well." He reached out and shook my hand. "Chris talked about you a lot." He said as he released my hand.

I turned to look up at Chris. "You did?" I asked in a playful voice.

Chris blushed and glared at Joe. "Thanks for that Joe. Thanks."

"Come on kid. It's not a big deal. Isabel doesn't seem to care." His dad teased.

"Yeah, I don't care! As long as they were all good things!" I raised an eyebrow at Chris and smiled.

"Whatever." He mumbled.

"D'aww. Cheer up, buttercup." I nudged him.

He rolled his eyes. "Don't you two have business to talk about?" He asked his dad.

"Oh right. Come on, Joe." Frank motioned for Joe to go back into his office.

"It was nice to meet you, kid." Joe said as he stepped back inside.

"Nice to meet you too, sir." Damn my politeness.

"Now behave." Frank told us as he closed the door.

As soon as the door was closed, I turned and looked up at Chris. "We need to talk." I said.

"Oh no." He said in a mocking tone. "Are we breaking up?" He laughed.

I rolled my eyes. "Why are you such an ass?"

"Eh, it's a gift." He shrugged. "Come on, we can talk in my room I guess." He turned and led me down the hall to his room.

**A/N: **And this is where I leave you for tonight. I have school in the morning and I wanted to have this published by the end of the night. I'll have another chapter up tomorrow, babes. Chris and Isabel will talk. Shit will start to go down reeaaalll soon.


	16. Things We Need To Say

**A/N:** Oh my gosh. Chapter 16 already. And this story has almost reached the one year anniversary of the first chapter. Wow. I'll be trying to make the chapters longer from now on, guys. I'll also try to update regularly. Your positive reviews and everything keep me going. Thanks guys. Also, I've started writing down ideas for the story in a notebook, so it's kind of more organized so I can know what I'm going to write about before I even start thinking about the chapters. I'll also be introducing another character in this chapter. His part will be pretty small in this story, but if everything goes the way I want it to, and I don't change things around, he'll be a pretty important part in the sequel. Now on with the chapter.

All characters from Kick-Ass belong to Mark Millar. Izzy and Jude belong to me.

**Chapter 16**

**Things We Need To Say**

Chris led me down the hall to his room. He held open the door for me and I walked in. He closed the door quietly and then turned to face me, his arms crossed over his chest. "Why did you come to see me?" He asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Because I missed you, of course!" I chuckled uncomfortably.

"No. Yah see that right there." He pointed at me.

I looked down at my shirt. "My shirt?" I questioned.

He rolled his eyes. "No. You're little thing you just did." He imitated my chuckle.

"Wow. You really are an asshole." I joked. "I came to talk to you and I can't tell you why. Are you going to kick me out now?" I frowned.

"No. You're not getting kicked out. I just want to know _why_ you argued with the doorman until he called my dad to let you up." He stared at me.

I raised my voice. "Because I missed you! I missed my best friend. I miss hanging out with you!"

"Why right now?" He asked in an annoyed tone, the corners of his mouth turned down into a frown.

"Is now not a good time? Because I can just go. I'm obviously not wanted here." I snapped.

His expression softened. "Izzy." He said gently. "I never said that."

I glared up at the ceiling and shook my head. "Whatever, man. I just came here because I _need_ to talk to you." I said in a serious voice as I looked back at him.

"What. What is it then?" He snapped.

"Um…" I opened my mouth to say something but then I closed it again. I had to find the right words, and not make myself seem suspicious. "Your dad doesn't seem too happy about the whole superhero thing." I bit my lip.

"How'd you guess?" He rolled his eyes.

I sighed and looked around the room. I walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge. "He wasn't exactly quiet about it before." I shrugged. "So, I take it he saw the news last night? With the new super hero." I added.

"Hm. Yeah he saw it." He nodded and sat down next to me. "I thought she was pretty cool, I don't think he appreciated it though."

"Is your dad really part of the mob?" I looked him in the eye.

"Who told you that? Your friends?" He rolled his eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes." I looked down at the ground.

"People…people see me differently because of what my dad does."

"Can't imagine why." I mumbled to myself. "I heard a rumor that those guys worked for your dad." I scratched my head. I felt bad, like I was using him to get information.

He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Where did you hear that?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I just…through grapevines." I sighed.

"Are you okay?" He reached out and touched my hand.

I nodded. "I'm perfectly okay." I nodded. "Really." I smiled up at him. "Never been better."

"You seem….different." He mumbled.

"It's been a few months, Chris. People change." I smiled sadly. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. "Ugh. Hold on." I growled and pulled my phone out.

It was a text message. From none other than Hit Girl herself. I can't say I was surprised, not even a little.

I read the message over. "_What the fuck are you doing?" _

I licked my lips, it was becoming a bit of a nervous habit. "_I'm getting the information I need. Calm down."_ I typed back and hit send.

I tucked my phone back in my pocket. I knew that things would go down. Sooner rather than later probably, and if I was going to keep working with Hit Girl and Big Daddy…I would have to distance myself even further from Chris and his family. After all, it was them I was helping those two get revenge on. Being emotionally attached wouldn't help me. It wouldn't help anyone.

I shook my head to clear it and then looked back at Chris. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, I don't even know why. "I just want you to know that even if I don't talk to you for a while again…or if I disappear or anything..." I bit my bottom lip.

He looked at me with a worried expression. "Izzy…what are you on about?"

"Just listen, okay!" I raised my voice. "We spent a lot of time together when my cousin was sick." I said. "And I miss that. I really do. But…I don't think we can hang out anymore." I said in a quiet voice.

"So what? You came here to tell me that you can't hang out with me, or see me anymore?" He asked loudly.

"Just listen!" I interrupted him. He wouldn't understand the position I was in. Even if he tried. "I care about you…so much." I whispered. "But, I have…school and other things. And everything else is just a distraction." I licked my lips again. "But…I…" I shook my head and let out a sigh. "I should go." I stood up and started to walk to the door.

"I'll walk you out." He said in a cold voice.

"Okay." I mumbled, my back still turned to him.

He walked up next to me and opened the door.

"Chris?" I whispered before I stepped out into the hallway.

"What?" He glared down at me.

"….I love you." I said sadly. I stood on my tip toes and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm sorry that I can't be a better friend to you. But believe me. I really do care about you." I looked down at the ground and walked into the hall towards the elevator with him trailing behind me.

I stopped and waited at the doors. Chris walked up and hit the button to call the lift for me.

"I love you too." He mumbled quietly.

I bit back tears. "Nice to know." I smiled. "Maybe…" I turned to look at him. "Maybe after I finish school and…stop being so distracted…we can hang out again. Go to the movies like we used to. Go out to dinner. Do everything that we used to do." I gazed up at him.

The elevator doors opened. I turned and looked into the empty lift. "I should go." I took a step towards it, then turned around. I took a step towards him, stood on my tip toes and kissed him softly on the lips. "Goodbye, Chris. See you around." I turned and walked into the elevator. Once inside, I turned back around and gave Chris a small smile. "Tell your mom I said hi." I said awkwardly.

"Will do." He nodded.

"Bye." I whispered as the doors slid closed.

I leaned back against the wall of the elevator and felt my phone buzz again. I rolled my eyes and took out my phone. Looking at the screen, I saw it was a reply from Hit Girl. "_Good. Get your ass out of there. Don't let us catch you on those cameras again. It'd be a shame if we had to lose you and Kick-Ass because of this shit."_

The doors opened as I looked up from the message. I stepped out into the lobby and typed a reply to her as I walked out the front door. "_Don't worry yourself about it. I was just saying goodbye. He didn't know anything about the guys I fought the other night."_ I thought to myself for a second and then added, "_I heard his dad calling me a slut in leather though. He knows about Firecracker now. I don't feel safe going back there. I won't be around there again. Don't worry, doll." _I read the message over twice as I walked down the street. I hit the send button and tucked my phone back in my jacket pocket.

**Later**

I walked into the house. "Davey! I'm home!" I shouted.

He walked into the living room. "Where'd you go?" He asked, leaning against the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

I shrugged. "Went by Chris' place. I wanted to see if he knew anything. But he didn't." I clicked my tongue. "Although, I did hear his dad call Kick-Ass a dick in a wetsuit and Firecracker a slut in leather." I laughed weakly. "I also told him I couldn't hang out with him anymore. Truth is, it's too dangerous for me. I mean, his dad is pretty much out to get me and you. It's not exactly the best idea for me to be hanging around with Chris even if I do…love him." I looked down at the floor.

"Wow." Dave muttered. "You two were pretty close, huh?" He asked.

I nodded. "We hung out every day when you were in the hospital." I wiped my eyes. "So yeah, we were close."

"You made the right decision though, Isabel. It's safer for you. Safer for me. Safer for everyone, really."

I cleared my throat. "I don't want to talk about it right now." I ran a hand through my long, dark hair. "Dave, I want you to do something. You have to promise me you'll do it. No take backs either." I looked him right in the eyes.

"…Okay." He seemed unsure of whether he should agree or not.

"I want you to tell Katie what you do. How you're Kick-Ass. Tell her everything. Tell her how you're not gay. She cares about you. I can tell. She acts different around you." I smiled.

"What!" He yelped.

"Hey. No take backs, remember?" I smirked. "Better go prepare a speech or something, cousin." I let out a little laugh.

He shook his head. "I really hate you sometimes."

"It'll be fine. Trust me. I'm a girl. I know these things." I walked past him, heading toward the kitchen. I patted him shoulder reassuringly as I passed. "It'll all be okay, Davey."

He walked up the stairs to his room. I could hear him mumbling about me under his breath as he went. I chuckled to myself as I searched through the cabinets in the kitchen looking for something to eat.

I finally settled on an apple I found on the counter. Rinsing it off under the tap water, I smiled to myself. I knew that Katie wished Dave wasn't gay. She'd told me several times, I think she even told him once.

Turning off the water, I walked over to the kitchen table and pulled out a chair. I sat down, and slumped in the seat. This superhero shit was way harder than I ever anticipated it would be. I bit into the apple, it was sweet and delicious.

I set it down on the table and chewed the piece of apple I had bitten off. I chewed slowly as I looked down at the table, tracing the patterns in the wood with my eyes. I needed someone I could talk to. I couldn't talk to Dave. I couldn't talk to Chris. I sure as hell couldn't talk to Todd or Marty. The person I needed to talk to, I hadn't seen in about 6 months.

I reached into my jacket pocket for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past 3 hours. I opened my contacts and scrolled down, looking for one name. I finally stopped scrolling when the name showed up on my screen. One push of a button, and I could be connected to the person I trusted most. My best friend from back home. I hesitated for another second. I took a deep breath and hit the green call button.

I took another bite of my apple. The line started to ring. I set the apple back down on the table as I chewed the small piece of apple. The ringing stopped and the line was quiet for a few seconds. I swallowed the mushed up bits of apple as I waited for any sound on the other line. It had been about 5 seconds, and I was about to hit the 'end call' button when a voice sounded on the other line.

"Hello?" A groggy voice said.

I looked at the clock. It was only 5PM. I shook my head. "Um…yeah is this Jude?" I bit my thumb nail as I waited for an answer.

The person coughed. "Yeah. Who's this?"

I sighed happily. "Jude! I'm glad you didn't change your number, yah bum!" I let out a little laugh. "It's Isabel!"

"Isabel…hmm…doesn't ring a bell." He said sarcastically.

"No. Of course it wouldn't. I was only your best friend for like 8 years, asshole!" I laughed, I really had missed him. We'd been inseparable from the time we were 8, right up until I moved in with Dave and his dad.

"Ah! That's right. I thought you meant the other Isabel. You know my ex-girlfriend." He laughed.

"Oh, haha. Very funny, Judey." I chuckled quietly. Jude and I had dated for at least 2 years. We had broken up about a week before I moved. He really was like my other half and luckily we had parted on good terms. The only other person I felt butterflies around besides Chris.

"What's up, doll? Everything okay up there in the big city?" I heard him stifle a yawn.

I paused before answering. "Everything's okay. My family up here is great. I have great friends…" I trailed off. I wanted to tell him about what I was doing. It was hard for me. The only other people that knew were the other superheroes. Did I really want to get Jude involved?

"Isabel." He said in a slow, calm voice. "What's wrong? Are you in trouble? Do you need me to come up there and tear bitches up?" He joked.

I bit my lip and sighed, "No. You stay in Georgia. Stay out of trouble…" I gulped. "But, Jude. I have to ask you something." I twirled a strand of hair around my finger as I waited for him to answer.

"Ask away, Iz. I'm all ears." He replied.

"Well, up here in New York…we have real life superheroes." I paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "How much have you heard about them?"

**A/N: **If this chapter is crappy, I apologize. I've been sick for the past few days and I wanted to get it posted. I'm fairly happy with the whole Chris & Isabel exchange, and I'll try to fit in little flashback type things in the next few chapters. I also wanted to introduce Jude. I have interesting things planned for this boy. Well, my next chapter should be up later today/tomorrow. What does Izzy want to tell Jude? How will he react to what she tells him. That's all in the next installment, babes.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Reviews are love.


	17. AN: so

A/N: okay so I haven't updated in a while and I feel sort of bad about it but I'll try to update this story sometime over this weekend or the one after that, school and work have been eating up my life. but I will update! sorry for getting your hopes up with this just being an author's note too


	18. Don't Judge

A/N: So yes sorry to have kept you all waiting, but school and health took a giant hammer to any sort of life, even on the internet really, over the last few months but here is the next chapter finally! I discovered 3rd person is easier for me to write in so yeah POV change but that's about it .-. I got this chapter done quicker than I anticipated! So here it is!

* * *

**Don't Judge Me**

"Jude. Jude are you still there?" Izzy kicked her feet up on the chair opposite the one she was sitting in and set her cellphone on the table, turning on speaker phone in the now empty house. "Jude!" She yelled at the phone.  
"What?"  
"Good, just checking to make sure you haven't died from shock or anything." She sighed.  
"But. Did you seriously just say that you were Firecracker?" Jude said on the other line and Izzy knew him well enough so that she could imagine clearly what he was doing. Sitting at his desk, probably, with his nose wrinkled and running a hand down his face as he tried to comprehend what he'd just been told by his best friend.  
"Correction, my dear. I am still Firecracker. I think I'm far too young to retire, don't you think?" She grinned and let out a little laugh.  
"Isabel. This is serious. You can't just…what if you get hurt or something? Jesus Christ." Jude snapped.  
"Whoa." Izzy slid her feet off the chair and leaned closer to the phone on the table. "That's not what I expected you to say, Judey. I mean…I thought you'd be excited for me! I'm doing something worthy! And what are you doing, huh? Sitting there judging me for it!" She hissed into the phone as she picked it up, switching off the speaker phone feature and beginning to pace around the kitchen with the phone pressed to her ear.  
"Iz..."  
"No, Jude. Why do you care if I'm out there getting hurt? I'm helping people! Stopping people from getting killed!"  
"Can't you do something else?" Jude questioned her.  
"I can't do something else." Izzy groaned in annoyance and leaned against the sink, closing her eyes as she continued explaining. "I'm in. Really in. I'm…helping people bring down the one of the worst guys in the whole city. Can't you at least pretend to be happy for me?"  
"I'm happy for you, Isabel. Really. Happy that you think you've found your purpose and all but…I won't be happy if I have to fly up there for your funeral." There was silence on both ends of the line now as the two teens let the words that had just been said soak in. "I'm sorry, Iz. I'll…I'll call you when I can actually fucking think of anything to say that won't make me sound like an ungrateful ass or whatever you think I am."  
"Jude, wa-" It was too late though, because he'd already hung up the phone. Izzy ran a hand through her hair and looked down at her cellphone before setting it on the kitchen counter and stomping off.  
"I'll fucking show him, then. I'm not stupid and I can take care of myself." She mumbled to herself as she stomped up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door. She emerged from her room a few minutes later by climbing out the window, decked out in all her gear and with the wig on her head.  
She shook her head as she walked down the alley to the main road, trying to shake the echo of Jude's words from her head. "_I won't be happy if I have to fly up there for your funeral."_

"You won't have to fly up here for anything, Jude. Believe me." She whispered to herself as she began walking down the road, headed towards the city. She didn't mind the walk, especially when she had so much on her mind. It helped calm her down. Besides, if it couldn't help her get calm, it would let the thoughts sink in more and make her angrier even. Maybe that would be better.

* * *

Once in the city, Firecracker stepped off the sidewalk and ran across the street. Waving at the car that had let her pass, she kept on walking. Looking around as she went, patrolling the streets that were surprisingly calm despite how crowded they were. Suddenly, the girl tilted her head and looked up at the sky and a frown appeared on her face as a drop of rain hit her in the middle of the forehead. "Great. And on the day I forget an umbrella." The superhero rolled her eyes and started walking faster as the rain started to fall. She rubbed her arms as she slipped into the nearest alley and glared at the passing civilians that had been lucky enough to bring their umbrellas or rain coats. She would be so unlucky as to have to costume that already clung to her, the rain wasn't helping there, and had no sleeves so her bare arms were being pelted with rain.

Headlights flashed on behind her and she whirled around, one of her boots catching the edge of a recycling bin and kicking it halfway across the alley. With an annoyed sigh, she wrapped her arms around herself and stomped off toward the car. Squinting through the rain, she could see the familiar red and black paint job and a small smile appeared on her face.  
"Red Mist." She nodded at him through the halfway open passenger side window.  
"Firecracker. How's your shower?" He looked her up and down from his spot on the driver's side seat.  
The smile quickly turned into a frown as the red-wigged hero narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you going to let me in the car? Or did you just turn on the lights so I could come over and admire the paint job on your tool mobile?" She snapped at him.  
"I was thinking about it, but the seats are leather. And it's Mist Mobile. Not tool mobile." He mumbled the last part as he rolled his eyes and reluctantly unlocked the door.  
"My boots are leather and you're lucky you don't have one of them up your ass yet." Izzy mumbled to herself as she made a mental note to unbookmark Red Mist's website from her browser when she got home. Flicking a strand of the soaking wet wig out of her eyes, she opened the door and climbed inside the car which was a welcome change from the pouring rain outside. "Can you turn up the heat?" She stuttered as her teeth started to chatter and she kept rubbing her arms.  
"I guess."  
She waved her hands in front of the heating vents in the dashboard and smiled bigger. "Thanks. You really could have just been an asshole and left me out in the rain so…" She fell silent.  
"And leave a soaking wet superchick outside? Nah, it's every nerd's dream I think." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smirked as she sank back further into her seat.  
"Do you think you can drop me off at the bus station?" She turned to his with wide eyes after sitting in silence for a few minutes and fighting the blush that was threatening to show on her face.  
"Not up to walking home? I can always drive you."  
"And give away my secret identity? Yeah right, asshole." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Bus station?" She asked again.  
He stared at her for a second, deciding if he should just kick her out into the rain or act the role and drive her to the bus station to catch a ride home. After a few seconds, he faced forward again, started the car with an annoyed grunt, put it in drive, and took off down the alley.  
The girl leaned her head against the window and watched the buildings pass in blurs of lights and colors as the other superhero put the pedal to the metal and drove almost too fast. She reached a hand up and pulled the knot on her mask to make sure it was still tight enough and straightened her wig as the car came to a stop in front of the bus stop where several people were waiting.  
"Bet they didn't think they'd be getting to ride the bus with a celebrity, huh." Red Mist joked as the waiting people squinted at the car, trying to see if it was really who they thought it was inside.  
"Hm…thanks for the ride, Red." Firecracker mumbled as she looked out the front window nervously.  
"Are you going to get out now?" He asked her.  
"Huh?" She turned and looked at him, confused for a second. "Oh! Right." She felt her face turn red. "Right. Get out and wait." She grinned. "Yeah, I totally am. I just…" She leaned across the seat and planted a soft kiss right on his lips. Pulling away, she blinked at him for a few seconds as his cheeks went a little red and she felt her own cheeks heat up. "Like I said. Thanks." Then she turned and opened the door, stepping out to stand and wait as the bus approached from the other end of the street.  
Red Mist rolled the window down and looked as if he was about to say something for a second, but decided against it and sped off down the street again.  
Staring off down the road at the disappearing lights from the Mist Mobile, Izzy sighed and patted the side of her wig. Getting the feeling that attention was on her, she turned her head and raised an eyebrow at the teen girl who was holding a camera phone almost in her face. "What?" She leaned her head back away from the girl.  
"Was that Red Mist in that car? That was his car, right? Oh my god, Firecracker. I ship you two! I started an online blog about you two and wait until all my friends hear about this and…" the girl launched into a rant as the superhero's face got redder and redder. "-I mean, you both wear red it's just…hey! Hey what are you doing with my phone!" The teen yelled and the other's kept watching as Firecracker grabbed the cellphone from the girl's hand and hit the center button, effectively stopping the recording.  
"I hope your phone automatically saves videos, sweetcheeks." She hissed as she handed the girl her phone and joined the older civilians that were climbing onto the bus that had arrived.

* * *

As soon as she climbed back into her bedroom window, the first thing Isabel did was peel off her wet costume and change into dry, warm pajamas. Making her way downstairs in pants and a t-shirt, she saw that she was still the only one home. Assuming that Dave was at Katie's or maybe one of his other friends' houses, she decided against calling him. So, the dark haired Lizweski girl walked to the kitchen and picked her phone up off the counter where she'd left it. There were two missed calls, two voicemails, and three texts.  
The first one call and voicemail were from Jude. "_Izzy. Isabel. I know you're there…Okay maybe you're not, but that's not the thing. I didn't mean…fuck. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. You're just my best friend. Wait I don't mean 'just my best friend', you know what I mean. But I just don't want you hurting yourself or others or other people hurting you. Don't make me drive my ass up there, Isabel. Just…call me back when you get this, alright? Be careful." _Izzy bit her lip nervously as she listened to Jude's message. She didn't want to fight with him and hell, she'd be more concerned if he wasn't telling her to keep her ass safe and be careful. She made a mental note to call him back as the second voicemail message started.  
"_Firecracker." _Isabel flinched as Hit Girl's voice started on the message. "_I guess you left your phone at home while you went on patrol or something, right? Dumb move, but I guess that can be expected. I guess we'll just have to text you if we need you. I can't really say what we need. People might be listening." _And the message ended as suddenly as it had started, leaving Izzy to nervously bite at the nails on her left hand as she hit the red 'end call' button and walked over to sit at the table to read the text messages.  
"_Where are you?" _and "_You're still not back?" _read the text messages from the obviously annoyed purple haired little girl.  
"_Make sure you call me back, or I'll think you got murdered. Or fell in a dumpster." _was what the more recent of the three text messages said, and it had been sent from Jude.  
With a sigh, Izzy stood up and walked back upstairs to call Jude back. Just as she entered her room and was about to hit the call button, a call came through.  
"Hello?" Izzy answered and looked around her room with raised eyebrows.  
"Izzy." Jude said in a relieved voice on the other end of the line.  
"Jude! I was just about to call you!" She sighed.  
"Did you just get back inside?"  
"Yeah, I was out on patro- How did you know I was out?"  
The other end went quiet.  
"Jude, I swear to god." Izzy sat down at her computer chair and frowned.  
"Well, Max's cousin was up in the city today with her parents and she called him a few minutes ago flipping out and…well you better check the internet." He said slowly and almost as if he were expecting her to explode.  
Opening her laptop and going to google as quick as she could, she typed in 'Firecracker' on the Google search. "Fuck!"  
"What? Did you see?"  
"No, just I haven't made it enough and when I type in Firecracker, it still comes up mostly images of fireworks and a few websites of where to buy them before the actual link to my fansite. My fan need to step it up."  
"Isabel, I swear to god."  
"Alright alright, hold on let me search the other thing!" She entered her other search option into the search bar and as soon as the results page opened up, her mouth dropped open when it showed the most recent news. "Oh my god."  
"I know right?"  
"Tell Max I'm going to kill his cousin."  
"I doubt he'd like that."  
"The bitch works fast." Isabel growled as she closed her laptop.  
"So…"  
"I was thanking him for giving me a ride to the fucking bus stop and now people are going to lose their shit and oh my god I'm going to die." She groaned and rested her forehead on the desk.  
"Don't be dramatic, Isabel."  
"I'm not being fucking dramatic. I'm going to get my ass kicked." She whined into the phone.  
After a few more minutes of whining, Jude finally got tired of it and hung up the phone. This left Izzy to sulk for the rest of the night and cast the occasional glare at her laptop from out of the corner of her eye as she tried to focus on the TV and await the imminent angry phone call.


	19. AN

A/n: So I'm going to try and have a new chapter up this weekend. Sorry about the wait, but school is a bit of a bitch and then my laptop broke. I literally just got a new one today so whoop. Probably tomorrow be expecting a new chapter!


	20. Back to Normal

**A/N: **Only a few more chapters to go in this and then I'll probably start the sequel! Once again, sorry for it taking so long and I hope you like it!

* * *

**Chapter 18**

** Back to normal, but not really**

The next day, Izzy was in English class sitting next to Todd when she got a text. It was from Hit Girl. All it said was "what the hell do you think you're doing out there?" Izzy just stared at her phone until Todd tapped her on the shoulder and she snapped out of the world where she was a superhero and back into the world where Lady MacBeth was asking the spirits to unsex her. At least that was better than worrying if some psychotic 11 year old was going to be on the man hunt for her. "What do you think she meant by unsex?" Todd asked as they all filed out of the room. "Was she asking the spirits for a sex change?" Marty snorted as he walked up behind them.

"Actually, idiots." Izzy rolled her eyes as she reached her locker across the hall from the class room, "I'm pretty sure she was just asking them to take away her feminine loveliness or some shit." She shrugged her shoulders. "Right, and you're so lovely." Todd mumbled under his breath and Izzy smirked to herself as Todd put his hand on her shoulder. In a matter of seconds, she'd grabbed his wrist, twisted it around, and had his face up against the locker with his arm behind him. "You were saying?" She raised an eyebrow. "Isabel!" She let go of Todd's arm and turned around to see Katie walking towards them, waving excitedly with Dave trailing behind her. "What the hell were you doing?" Dave hissed at her as Marty tried to convince Katie to bring Erica to Atomic Comics with them after class was over. Izzy just shrugged with a little smile as she placed her book in the right spot for her to grab it from the next day. Grabbing her coat, they were all off to Atomic Comics like it was any other normal day.

**One Month Later**

The last month had passed pretty smoothly for everyone. To almost everyone's shock, Dave and Katie were together now. Izzy had almost fallen off of the chair she was sitting on when Dave told her how Katie had almost beaten him with a hairdryer. Truth was, everyone had suspected it. They always seemed to be sneaking off together. It had only been confirmed however, when a horrified Izzy came running back from the alleyway where she'd went to go throw some trash in the dumpster as a favor for the owner who'd given her a part time job.

* * *

"What the hell, Isabel!?" Todd nearly choked on his coffee as the brunette ran up next to him, and stared at him with wide eyes. "Dave. And. Katie!" She managed to get out before collapsing into what could only be considered horrified giggles. "Um...you okay?" Erica raised an eyebrow at her and Isabel took a step back so she was looking at all three of them, still laughing as she tried to tell them. "I went to throw away the trash and...I walked out and you know how Dave and Katie left for that movie or whatever?" They nodded. "Well, I opened the door and there they were!" "What were they doing?" Todd's eyes widened a little as he leaned forward. "They were fucking on a pipe!" Erica let out a disgusted noise as Todd and Marty exchanged looks. Before anyone could move, Izzy was hitting her head off of the back of Todd's chair as gently as she could have. "What the hell are you doing?" Todd had pushed her head up off the chair and she'd just smiled sheepishly before mumbling, "Clearing my brain of the trauma."

* * *

There hadn't been much crime that either of them had noticed recently, so Dave and Isabel were back to being almost normal. Going to school without bruises they had to cover, hanging out with their friends at Atomic after school, and in Dave's case, going to school. Izzy hadn't seen Chris in almost a month and the last time she saw him was only in passing as he exited a store and held the door for her. She didn't seem to mind though, she was too busy enjoying being normal.

Mindy and Damon, however, saw the sudden quiet from the mob violence as a bad thing. As Mindy would frequently tell Izzy, the fact that it was so quiet meant things were about to get loud. Frank D'Amico was planning something. He had to be, and they had to be ready for it. Izzy didn't see it as anything to worry about though. After all, those two were better at it than her and they could probably handle it.

Isabel's 18th birthday was normal. Writings on her Myspace page from people she barely talked to anymore, a phone call from Jude that woke her up earlier than she'd like, and other things. But the whole day, Izzy had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt like something was going to happen soon, she just didn't know what. It all started when she noticed that, for the first time in months, Chris wasn't in Atomic. Usually, she'd see him leaving or just catch a glimpse of him as he walked out the door when she was talking to her friends. Today, there was nothing.

"Something's up." She whispered to Dave as she pulled on her coat as they were getting ready to leave from the small party they'd just had at the comic shop. "It's all going to be fine, you're just letting Hit Girl get into your head." Dave mumbled back as he turned and waved over his shoulder at their friends. "Yeah, but what if she's right?" Izzy forced a grin as she waved as well, and the smile disappeared as soon as the two of them rounded the corner. "I mean, if Frank was planning something big, it only makes sense that he wouldn't want his son out in public!" She went to continue but Dave cut her off. "Maybe your little friend is just sick." He said, almost like he was hoping that was the case. "I'll check then." Izzy said as she pulled out her phone before Dave could even utter a word of protest.

The phone rang as Dave looked at her out of the corner of his eye as they kept walking down the street. "Hello?" A rushed voice said from the other line. Isabel blinked at Dave and held up a finger to signal him to stop walking. "Hey Chris. It's Isabel." She said maybe a little too happily. "Oh..hey." He sounded a little disappointed, like he'd been expecting someone else. "What do you want?" He asked and Izzy replied without thinking. "Well, you're usually in Atomic and you weren't there today so…" "Were you stalking me, Isabel?" She could almost hear him smirk into the phone and she let out a disgusted little grunt.

"Actually, I was calling to see if you were sick or something. Or if you needed anything." She smacked Dave's arm as he rolled his eyes. In the background, she heard a loud voice that was unmistakably Frank's say something about guns and Chris hurried to drown him out by saying, "I'm fine. I gotta go. Thanks for calling." And before Izzy could respond, the call ended. "See." She hissed at Dave as they started down the street again. "He's not sick. Something's up."

Dave wanted to try to keep Isabel's mind off of it and her cellphone and Hit Girl's texts out of her hands, so he volunteered to stay home with her and watch movies. It's not like he was missing out on anything since Katie was going to be spending the night volunteering. That's what he told his dad as they watched him leave for work.

They were sitting in Dave's room for no more than a few minutes when Izzy posed a very interesting question. "What do you think would happen if we just quit? Never put on the costumes again. Tried to be normal," she said quietly as she picked up a snowglobe off of Dave's dresser. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. They both thought that Big Daddy and Hit Girl would go on doing what they were doing without them. Would Kick-Ass or Firecracker really be missed if they disappeared? They didn't have much time to think about it as Dave opened his laptop and for the first time in a month, signed onto the Kick-Ass Myspace page.

Izzy walked over and leaned over his shoulder as he clicked on the mail. They both mumbled, "Holy shit," as they saw the amount of emails from not only civilians asking for help, but Red Mist. In a few seconds, Izzy was up, grabbed her laptop from her room, and ran back over to Dave's. She sat on the floor and logged on to Firecracker's page. Just as she'd suspected, there were numerous from him there as well. "We're not going to go, are we?" She turned around and raised an eyebrow at Dave as he snapped his laptop shut.

"Go get dressed," was his response as he reached into his closet. Izzy let out a sigh and got up off the ground and slumped off to go get dressed. Last time she'd seen Red Mist had ended just as well as the time that she'd kissed him as a thank you.

* * *

She'd been cornered by 3 guys twice her size as the fourth laid on the ground clutching a broken leg. She had a funny feeling that her arm was at least fractured. The biggest one was practically snarling at her like an animal and she was about to just scream and run when she heard it. The revving of an engine.

Next thing she knew, Red Mist was holding out a hand to help her up. She'd let out a huff and pushed herself up off the ground using her good arm. "I didn't need your help, dude," she'd snapped as she brushed past him, holding her right elbow where the one bastard had kicked it before she broke his leg. "Right, which is why I found you almost cowering on the ground," was his response and she'd turned to see him standing in the alley with his arms crossed over his chest. She narrowed her eyes at him and walked right up to him, pointing a finger in his face.

"I don't need you saving me. Got it? I've been doing this longer than you have, kid." She'd practically hissed at him. "Doesn't show," was his mumbled response as he'd tried to look anywhere but at her. "Just because I can't do any fancy martial arts or carry a gun doesn't mean I'm not capable of doing things!" Her voice had cracked and the deeper voice she tried to keep on when she was Firecracker broke and she started coughing to try and clear her throat. "God damn it, why can't you just…" she yelled and next thing she knew she was smacking him across the face. "What was that for!?" He held his cheek as he stumbled back. "You just kissed me," she shrieked at him. "It was to keep you from yelling anymore!" "Yeah, well fuck off," and she'd stomped off down the alley until she reached the street and hailed a taxi to take her to the nearest bus-stop.

* * *

Izzy took one last look at herself in the mirror. She still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. "Happy birthday to me," she mumbles as she turned away from the mirror and climbed out of her window and down into the alley and started walking to meet Dave at the end of the block. They were going to answer Red Mist's distress calls whether she liked it or not.


	21. A n

A/n: Well, this isn't exactly a new chapter. But there will be about 3 more chapters of this story, not including the epilogue chapter. I think. I've already started planning out the sequel so yes I'm excited. Good things are happening. (not for Izzy but for my word documents)


	22. An: Sorry!

Okay sorry for taking so long and I know this isn't exactly a chapter, but I'm back to working on this story and if you go on my profile, there are new edited pictures and a new section just titled "edits" with links to things I'm doing in photoshop related to this story. The last picture is also a direct link to a post on my tumblr so if anyone here has one, feel free to follow me.

A new chapter should be uploaded in a few hours!


	23. Double Crossed

**Double Crossed**

_A/N: So yes here's a chapter. It's not as long as I hoped it would be, but the last few chapters will be much longer. The end is approaching fast!_

* * *

"Excuse you!? What do you mean they'll be after us?!" Isabel gaped at the two heroes in the front seat. "What I mean is these guys had bad motherfuckers for friends. They think we did that to the lumber store and they already trashed my apartment!"Red Mist ranted on from the front seat as the two cousins listened to his story. In the backseat, Isabel had her hands over her face and was taking deep breaths. "Put it that we're on vacation." She said all of a sudden and both of them turned around and stared at her as she lowered her hands.

"On the MySpace. Like they said." She nodded at Kick-Ass as he pulled out his cellphone and went to work. "So there are more heroes." Red Mist said quietly, maybe it was supposed to be to himself but she heard it and replied, "They're more like hit-men...or trained assassins. But yes, there are more competent heroes." She rolled her eyes as Dave's phone went off and she shoved herself between the two seats so she could read it. "Safe House B." She said aloud. Dave looked at her expectantly for a second and she noticed, smacking him on the side of the head. "Don't give me that look!" She snapped. She was in a bad mood already since being dragged from the house to help a hero that could probably defend himself hadn't been on her nightly agenda, and being in a cramped space with both her cousin and a would-be hero who is more of a professional stoner was just making it worse.

"I just thought you'd.." "Does this hunk of junk have a GPS?" She turned to Red Mist and she would have sworn she heard him growl at the sound of her insulting his oh-so-precious Mist Mobile. "Yes."

The heroine patted him on the shoulder before returning to the back seat. "Well plug it in there, Misty. We might as well get going to the Safe House if we have to save your ass anyway." She let out a sigh as she folded her arms over her chest and watched out of the corner of her eye as he entered it in the GPS and thought she saw him text someone.  
A few minutes into the ride, it was quiet. "Who'd you text?" She piped up from the backseat and tilted her head to the side when he responded. "No one." He looked to the side and saw both Firecracker and Kick-Ass exchanging looks. "I'm serious! No one. I was checking the GPS. Fuck." Red Mist shook his head.

"Whatever, man. Why so defensive?" Firecracker raised an eyebrow and when the only response she got was something about paying attention to the road, she took off a glove and started examining her nails.

"Really?" Her cousin mumbled as he caught sight of her. "He's trying to pay attention to the road and I'd rather not die tonight in a car crash, you know?" She shrugged her shoulders again and the car fell into a rather uncomfortable silence until the car stopped. "We're here. Everyone out." Red Mist announced as he parked the car. "Let me out, man." Firecracker tapped on the back of Kick-Ass' seat with her boot until he climbed out and pulled the lever to lower the seat and helped her out of the back of the car. "So." She yawned and stretched her arms over her head, "You should know these two. They don't take shit from anyone. I did one little thing to piss them off and I swear to god, I had to stay clear of them for two weeks before I felt safe enough that they weren't going to take me out when I had my back turned." She let a short laugh at the memory which earned her an eyebrow raise and a confused look from the red masked hero.

"Just because they don't appreciate your raging hormones, Firecracker." Kick-Ass joked. This would have earned him a boot stomped on his foot if he hadn't went to take a step just in time. "Excuse you." Firecracker huffed, "Sorry, I was being a good little hero and doing my job. And it wasn't my hormones, you absolute dick. Speaking of hormones.." She grinned at him. Kick-Ass glared at her and the three of them started into the building. Firecracker slightly ahead of the two others and she was practically skipping which was odd for someone who was heading to a Safe House to hide from thugs who potentially want to kill, torture, and / or insert other awful methods here. She gave a sharp knock on the door as Kick-Ass and Red Mist caught up to her. "Get behind me." Kick-Ass mumbled to her before the door opened. "Wha..." She let out an annoyed grunt but allowed him to take her spot in front of the door.

"Your Prince Charming going to take a chance that someone else got here first." Red Mist turned to her and whispered. She just stared straight ahead and one corner of her mouth twitched into what could have passed for a smile. "Prince Charming? He's more of the mouse that got turned into the carriage driver if you ask me." "If you're done with this not being about your hormones." Kick-Ass cut her off and she went to reply with a biting remark when the door opened. "Kick-Ass. And. Red. Mist." Big Daddy nodded at them as he stepped aside. "After you." Red Mist waved Firecracker in ahead of him and she just shrugged her shoulders and walked through the door with a "Sup, daddy-o." before walking over to greet Hit Girl. "How've you been, kid?"

Any response Hit Girl would have given was cut short by Big Daddy telling Hit Girl to introduce herself. Firecracker's gaze wandered to the wall near the door as she thought "Is that a..." Then a gun shot went off. Kick-Ass was shouting and Big Daddy was screaming and she turned her head just in time to see the little girl fall backwards out the window.

"No!" The sound of her yell was drowned out by Big Daddy crying out again as he ran over to the window. She turned and looked at Red Mist as her eyes fell to the gun in his hand. "You fucking traitor!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as she lunged at him, but next thing she knew, the door was kicked down and she was grabbed around the waist. "Let her go!" Kick-Ass was shouting. "What the hell, man! Let us go!"

"Wait! They're with me!" Red Mist was shaking his head and motioning for them to be released as Firecracker's eyes flitted around the room in her panic as she was still struggling against the person trying to drag her out of the room. She spotted Big Daddy being shocked and let out a loud scream as he dropped to the floor. "Stop it! You're hurting him! Stop it stop it stop it!" She kept screaming so loud she was sure her throat would be killing her tomorrow if she wasn't actually killed.  
"Holy fuck!" She shouted again as she spotted the person keeping Red Mist from helping her and Kick-Ass. Recognition finally hit her like a ton of bricks and any hint of the voice she put on as Firecracker disappeared as she raised a hand and tried to swing at him again. The expression on her face was one of hurt and anger. She should have known.

"It's you! It's fucking you! Fuck you! I fucking trusted you and you double crossed me you fucking double crosser!" She screamed so loud that the man holding her back hit her over the head. She was almost seeing stars now as she stopped struggling and her vision was going blurry. Isabel still heard her cousin yelling and screaming as he was being dragged to a van. The same van she was. Red Mist was still trying to scream over everyone to let them go and that he was sorry.  
As she was tossed into the van, she mumbled to no one in particular, "They were right. I was wrong. Fucking D'Amico.", and her vision went black.


	24. Cry for help

**A/N: **I actually really like this chapter and have been waiting to write it for a while and I love the way it turned out so I hope you guys do too. Leave reviews and thank you all for reading my writing as it's improved and following this story as it's grown. On another note, I was thinking about starting a tumblr/blog where I can post about this story and the new one. It would be things like drabbles that don't fit into the stories but fill in gaps and character bios. Do you think that's a good idea? Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

**Cry for help**

**Isabel's POV**

I don't remember how I got there. One minute, we were at the Safe House. Next minute, thugs were rushing in and I discovered the person I thought was my friend was a traitor. I remember a sharp pain and the rest of it? Just a mass of colors and images that blurred together, not making any sense. "Wake up, princess.", a sharp loud voice said. I let out a groan and the next thing I heard was another voice saying, "Stop it! Leave her alone."

"Shut up, kid! I said. Wake. Up!" The voice was louder this time and footsteps followed it. A few seconds later, a hand was gripping the back of my wig and yanking the synthetic hair. My eyes shot open and a yelp escaped my throat as I felt the bobby pins that were holding it to my actual hair start to pull from the root. "Fuck you!", I shouted and I flinched in my chair as the man in the mask went to take a swing at me only to be interrupted by another man. "Hey! What did the boss say? Save it for the show." He nodded over at us and the man closer to me leaned down and looked me dead in the eye. It took every bit of self control I had to not try and shrink back into the chair as I sat up straight and stared right back. "Right." He said after a few seconds and gave me a smile that could only be described as malicious.

As he stepped away, I let out the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding in. I turned my head slightly to the right and saw Big Daddy slumped over in the chair. My stomach felt like it twisted into a knot and I bit down on my lip to hold back from shouting and it took me a few seconds to tear my gaze away from the sight and I turned to look to my left. I saw my cousin next to me. Tied up in a chair just like I was and I nudged his foot with mine to get his attention. As soon as he looked up, I felt my eyes start to sting with tears. "We're going to die, right?", I said as quietly as I could. He paused a second before whispering back, "Probably."

"Well.." I let out a quiet sob as I tried to move my hand to wipe my eyes but failed, "It's been a pleasure kicking ass with you, cousin." I managed to smile weakly before a man in a ski mask walked in front of us with only a few feet between us. "Gentlemen," he rubbed his hands together and out of the corners of my eyes, I saw two men on either side of us in the shadows. I looked over and saw Dave just staring straight ahead, so I did the same. I set my eyes forward and caught sight of something I hadn't before. A camera. "_a camera. They're going to kill us on camera."_

"It's showtime." The man grinned before turning around and obstructing the view of the camera with his face.

"Hello boys and girls!" His voice sounded almost cheerful, it made me want to throw up. "Now this," He moved out of the way and I was almost positive people would be seeing us now as he pointed next to me at Dave. "Well, you all know who this is." He pointed to me, "and you all know her too." I felt the urge to scream and curse and yell for help. I wanted to yell "Stop it! Stop them call the cops somebody please, they're going to kill me! I don't want to die!" But, my pride got the better of me. So I sat perfectly still, staring at the camera. "And this guy here. Is Big Daddy." He pointed next to me and I turned my head slightly to look and only saw that he still hadn't moved.

"And these are my friends!" His voice had the cheerful tone back and the only thing that was running through my mind as I glanced around the room as the men stepped out of the shadows with Dave's batons behind their backs was "I am going to die. I'm so sorry. I'm going to die."

The man rambled on as I got lost in my thoughts.

You know, it's a funny thing. Thinking about death when you're so sure it's going to happen. I mean. I hadn't even felt anything yet, but I was so positive it was going to happen. So I just thought. I was never going to have kids or get married. Why did I have to be a hero in the first place? I should have quit after the first time out. I thought of Jude, who had snapped that he wouldn't fly up for my funeral. Would he keep that promise. I wondered what would have happened with everything if I hadn't encouraged Dave and the stupid fucking idea in the first place. Would I have ended up going back home? Would I have ended up staying in New York? I would graduate, but what would I do. Everything in my future was so uncertain and it had been ever since I'd ordered this costume that I was going to fucking die in. My friend had betrayed me unknowingly and I wished none of it had happened. I wished that I'd just stayed normal and maybe been able to have a normal relationship for once in my fucking life that I didn't have to keep a secret. But then maybe, I was never meant to be what I wanted to be. Fate was always pulling the strings.

I snapped out of it just in time to catch the man say "Show 'em what a knuckle duster can do, guys!" And the panic set in as I let out a shriek and tried fight my way out of the restraints. "And...in the middle." I let out a scream of, "No wait!", but I was cut off as a man in a red mask with a lightning bolt on it punched me in the stomach. The breath was knocked out of me and I just sat there coughing with tears in my eyes. And let me tell you, if I had to choose between that and getting my nose broken again? I would choose the nose 5 times over. "We got some of Kick-Ass's batons! Show 'em what they can do, boys!" I went to let out another cry for help but was cut off by a sharp pain on the back of my shoulder blade, then the other one, and again on the back of my head. "Shit man. I'm going to die. I really am. I'm so sorry."

"-baseball bat!" Oh shit was the only thought that ran through my head as he announced, "Good for hitting knees!" I let out a yelp and leaned to the other side as I heard the kneecap that was smacked with the bat let out a loud crack. "Throats!" "Wa.." I let out a strangled noise as the bat connected with my throat. I could feel the air getting stuck and not reaching my brain and a few seconds later, my breath was back and I was sitting in the chair gasping for air.

"We do 'em all together!" And then I wished I could feel nothing at all. Almost every inch of my body was being swung at and beaten. I wasn't afraid to die anymore. I was actually wishing for it.

**Third person POV**

In Canton, Georgia, Jude McHale was pacing in front of his laptop as a redheaded girl sat on the couch with a hand over her mouth. The girl just kept repeating "Oh my god. Oh my god" to herself as they watched the chaos unfolding. Jude had called her over to watch. They both just thought it was supposed to be an unmasking and Jude had been happy. Happy that his friend was getting herself out of harms way. As soon as the man had stepped aside though, his heart had dropped to his stomach and he'd felt the urge to start screaming at the screen. The girl, Cecelia, had gripped his arm so tight that he thought he was going to use circulation.

As soon as the weapons started being used in unison, he'd gotten up off the couch and started pacing the floor back and forth with tears in his eyes. "Fuck. Fuck. She's going to die." There were a few minutes that seemed to drag on for hours that he couldn't bring himself to sit back down and look at the computer screen. The shouts of pain from Kick-Ass and his friend were enough to keep him standing, as were the tears and quiet sobs of Cecelia as she stared in horror at what was happening on the screen. Suddenly, the shouts of pain died down even though the punches and hits were still audible. "He's going to burn them alive." was the first thing that had been said in the house in minutes and Jude immediately jumped over the coffee table and sat back on the couch, almost shoving the red head out of the way as she let out a yelp of protest. The two of them stared at the screen before Jude mumbled, "I can't watch." and leaned over to bury his face in her shoulder.

She was going to die. They fought and she was going to die. "Fire. Fire is our friend." He felt Cecelia clutch his shirt and gun shots were heard. All of a sudden, Cecelia was pulling at his arm.

"Jude! The lights just went out, look!" She pointed at the screen. As soon as it happened, flashes of light were seen all over the screen. "What the fuck!" They said at the same time and exchanged confused looks. "It's a fucking shoot out!?"

Every couple flashes or so, he would catch a glimpse of Isabel and her cousin struggling in their chairs. The two of them watched as the red wigged hero landed a solid kick between one of the men's legs as she let out a scream and kept trying to bite at her wrists to get out. "Go! Go go!" Cecelia was on her feet now yelling and pointing at the screen with tears still on her face.

The cheering stopped and was replaced by a horrified shriek of "NO!" as someone cried out they'd found the lighter and suddenly the floor under Big Daddy's feet was engulfed in flames. And they were spreading. A loud scream was heard that caused goosebumps on Jude's arm as the fire spread to one of Isabel's boots. "No no no no!" She was screaming and sobbing and trying to kick the boot off her foot before it spread too far. Big Daddy was yelling to someone off screen. Different sort of commands, what was that? A code?

But Isabel was still screaming "Please, Please! I can't untie it! I can't!" Then, in her struggle, her chair tipped over backwards. The person off camera, they hadn't seen yet, did something Jude managed to hear as "Kryptonite" and the live stream was strobing. He shielded his eyes from the screen. "Holy shit. Holy fucking shit!" The red head next to him kept mumbling. "His legs are fucking burning. Her boot is off. People are dropping like flies." She sounded amazed and horrified as she tried her best to explain what was happening so quickly on the screen. "Good lord." She covered her mouth with her hand. "It's a little girl. It's a little girl. She's killing everyone." She pulled Jude's hand away from his eyes just in time for him to see a little girl in a school girl uniform shoot out the camera with a quiet but vicious sounding, "Show's over, motherfuckers."

The two stared at the screen for a second after it went dark, then looked at each other. "Next time. I pick the program we watch." Cecelia pointed in his face as he let out a sigh and slid down the couch with his hands over his face. "Is Firecracker alive?" "It would seem so. Thanks to that little girl. God, I need a drink. I'm fucking traumatized." Cecelia mumbled as she got up off the couch and wrapped her arms around herself. The thought of people almost dying for doing the right thing was enough to make her sick. Meanwhile, it was all Jude could hope that his friend was really alive and feel sorry for whoever that poor burned man was.


	25. The Plan

**A/N: **This chapter might be a little short but the next one will be longer. Just 2 or 3 more chapters and this story ends!

* * *

**The Plan**

**3rd person POV**

Isabel was writhing around on the floor as Dave tried to get her hands untied. "Stop moving!" He said quietly as he looked up from her wrists for a second and caught sight of Hit Girl. Looking back at his cousin on the ground, they made eye contact and she whispered, "Is he.." and he cut her off with a nod. She bit back a sob as he went back to undoing the knots and he helped her sit up once it was done. She was rubbing her wrists as she looked around the room at the death and destruction, swallowing hard to hold back from vomiting. "I'm sorry, Hit Girl." "It's fine."

"He was a good.." "I said it's fine." The little girl cut her off and looked down at the ground a second before kicking the discarded boot over to her. "Here. Here's your damn boot." Isabel went to stand up, but let out a yelp of pain and almost fell sideways, if her cousin hadn't caught her. She leaned over and, with a shaking hand, rolled up part of her pants. The outfit itself was burnt and she internally cursed herself over having to probably buy a new one. A new wave of nausea hit her as she quickly rolled down the pant leg to cover her burnt ankle. "Isabel." "It's fine." She hissed. "Just help me out." She slung her arm over his shoulder, and with the boot in her other hand, she hobbled along with him as they followed the young girl out. Isabel felt like crying.

Crying from the feeling of betrayal she felt. Crying for Hit Girl who had just lost her father. Crying for anyone and everyone. But after a short mental lecture of how she should be stronger and stop being such a little bitch, she held her head up high and managed to let out a strangled laughing noise when she saw the car outside. "The Mist Mobile." Dave gaped at the car, unable to hide his surprise. "You jacked the Mist Mobile?" Isabel eyed the car as the younger girl got in the driver's seat and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, come on assholes. Get in."

A serious look was on Isabel's face now, "You're driving? I don't need another near death experience." She snapped. "Just get in the car because you're sure as fuck not driving, Hobbles." The visible part of the older girl's face started to turn red as she blushed from embarrassment and allowed her cousin to help her into the back of the car. "How's your ankle?" Dave asked. "It's fine, I said." Isabel rolled her eyes and both older teens shared a look of sympathy before focusing on the young girl that was currently driving them. "Like I said. I'm my parents are dead too.." Isabel said quietly as she tried to sympathize with the young girl who had seen her father die mere minutes ago. "It's." and Dave cut her off. "So what are you going to do?" He asked her.

"Listen, asshole. I have over a million dollars in a suitcase. I'm pretty sure I can handle myself." Hit Girl snapped and Isabel's eyebrows raised as she leaned back in the backseat to elevate her ankle until they got to wherever they were going. It was obvious they weren't going to get anywhere with her. Not now at least.  
-

A few minutes later, Isabel had her mask off as they walked, or in her case hobbled, into the safe room that was located in what had been Damon and Mindy's apartment. With a few seconds of work, she had her wig off and was trying in vain to smooth down her hair. "Pack some stuff and you can come home with us." She heard Dave say in a quiet voice. "Just go get cleaned up. Whatever." had been the snarky response and Isabel had turned around to see Mindy staring down at a mug of hot chocolate. Limping her way over, Isabel placed a hand warily on the young girl's shoulder and frowned. "It hurts, doesn't it? Losing someone." She said quietly. "He was the only family I had." "I know, kid. I know." It was silent between the two for a second before Isabel spotted the monitors. "D'Amico's place?" She frowned slightly as she caught sight of all the men around the halls. "Yep."

Isabel turned to look at Mindy and tapped her fingers on the desk before glancing down at her ankle. "We're not going to let them get away with it, are we?" She felt a small smile creep onto her face as Mindy shook her head. A second later, Mindy was staring at a duffle bag that had been set on the desk. "Get me a chair." Isabel brushed some of the hair out of her face and started looking through the bag as she sat down on a chair that was pulled up next to her. "Jeans? What are you..."

"I know how I can be of use here." She smirked as she waved the jeans and shirt at the little girl. "I'm going to be your poor little hostage." A look of realization dawned on the young girl's face and after sharing a quick high five, Hit Girl was back in action. Going around the room, putting as many guns, bullets, and different weapons as she could into the duffle. Meanwhile, Izzy had walked off into the little hallway that led to the rooms and stopped outside the bathroom when the door opened. "Hit Girl's waiting for you." She gave him a sad smile and patted him on the shoulder.

Getting out of those tight pants with her ankle in that condition was pretty difficult but she managed while having a quiet laughing fit over Dave flipping out about the bag of guns. It had quieted down by the time she emerged from the bathroom. Her hair wasn't neat, but less of a wreck than it had been. Her skinny jeans had been folded up a few times to the point where they were only to about her midcalf, and for extra effect, she ripped a few holes in her shirt where it was clear to see the bruises that were forming after she'd cleaned away some of the dried blood. Her face wasn't completely clear of all of the blood, she'd left some for a more believable look.

"So. How's your hostage look?" She gritted her teeth as she set her right foot down to take a step. "Believable enough." Hit Girl mumbled before turning her attention back to the crate that she was standing in front of with Kick-Ass. "Is that.." He said as he looked down and Izzy grabbed his shoulder to get her balance as she caught a glimpse of what they were looking at. "Better start reading up." Mindy shoved the user's manual into Dave's hand and looked between the two older teens before nodding and grabbing her clothes and going to the bathroom to change.

"Be careful in there." Dave frowned at his cousin as they both moved to look at the monitors. "They'll be in there. Possibly. It might be hard to get past the bodyguard." Isabel pointed to one monitor where she saw several men standing outside of a single room. "But we can probably manage the front door without a problem, you know." She nodded her head before looking up.

"And you be careful with that thing." She pointed over her shoulder to the box. They spent the next few minutes in silence, with Dave reading the manual and Isabel studying the monitors. "Let's go." Mindy's voice snapped them both out of it and the cousin's exchanged a look and a nod before Isabel got unsteadily to her feet and set off out the door behind the younger hero who looked like an average young girl carrying a suitcase behind her. Everyone would have thought that it was filled with clothes or stuffed animals, but Izzy knew that it was filled with enough weapons to handle what they needed to get done.


	26. another author note

Okay so the next two chapters should be coming sometime this week, I promise! In the meantime, the first chapter of the sequel is already up because I figured why not since it's not really anything big spoiler-wise! It's on my profile under the title Light em up (I'm on fire)!

The conclusion of this story comes soon!


	27. Into the fray

_Into the fray_

Isabel sat in the passenger seat, wondering why she'd agreed to let the little girl drive in the first place. There wasn't anything said between the two young women during the car ride to the D'Amicos. After all, what was there to say when you'd just survived an assassination attempt broadcast through the internet that had claimed the life of your driver's father?

"Park around the corner." The brunette in the passenger seat spoke up finally and the blonde gave her a questioning look before clenching her jaw as she served through traffic to park on the opposite side of the road. "We can take this alley here," Isabel tapped her window and pointed at an alley across the road, "It'll leave us out right across from their building." "Why are you helping me with this?" Mindy asked suddenly and Isabel just stared at the younger girl.

"Because I have to," and she got out of the car. She was already in the alley when Mindy walked up to her dragging the suitcase behind her. "You know what else you had to do? Stay away from the D'Amicos. But how can I trust you now?" Isabel couldn't even formulate a response, so she just bit her tongue and spat out after a few seconds. "Hit me." "What?" "You want to."

"You're a crazy bitch," Mindy shook her head and Isabel's response was lost when her fist collided with the brunette's chin. Mumbling a few choice swear words under her breath, she hissed as she rubbed her jaw. "Better?" "A little bit," Mindy mumbled after a short pause. "You'll feel better after killing some dickheads," Isabel cracked a grin as she put a hand on Mindy's shoulder.

"Better start the waterworks, dollface."

"She's just a little girl, Jesus." Isabel tapped her foot as she waited for the doorman to open the door. She'd told him through the door that she'd found the little girl wandering the street and her phone was dead and this was the first place she'd thought of to go. Good old doorman, he didn't even question it.

The door was opened and Isabel stepped inside behind Mindy folded her arms across her chest. Raising both eyebrows sky high as a bullet shot through the man's cheek. It was no more than ten seconds before every man in the lobby was dead. "You'd make an excellent hit man when you grow up, you know." Isabel remarked as she nudged one of the dead guy's hands with the tip of her shoe.

"Are you coming or not?" Hit Girl snapped from the elevator and Isabel rushed across the room and slipped into the elevator just before the doors slid shut. The trip up consisted of Mindy changing into her costume. "We have to make this believable now, you know." She advised the older girl, who was busy messing up her hair and pinching at her already bruised skin to make herself look even more messed up. She winced as her hand brushed her split lip and her eyes wandered to the floor numbers. "Ready?"

Then the door to the elevators opened and Mindy shoved Isabel out before her and Isabel put on her best helpless act.

"Shit," Mindy mumbled from behind her as a bunch of D'Amicos men rounded the corner and she shoved Isabel away as she dove to hide behind a pillar. Isabel stood staring at the men. "She took me hostage!" She stumbled over her words and one of the men stopped and stared at her before nodding his head and she managed to make it halfway down the hall before the gun fire started. She stumbled through a doorway as she ducked her head.

"Stop right there!" She looked up and held her hands in the air. "Jesus Christ," she saw Chris pop up from behind the desk. "Dad, stop." He rushed forward and grabbed her by the arms. Trying not to show her disgust at being touched by the person that had just unintentionally caused the death of a young girl's father, she let out a quiet whimper. "How the fuck did you get in here, kid?" Frank snapped. "The girl. Took me hostage." Her voice was shaking, convincingly enough. Just not from the fact of being a hostage, being in the room with a man who wanted her dead was enough to cause her to want to curl up in a ball on the floor. "You're Red Mist?" She widened her eyes and Chris opened his mouth to reply. A loud series of shots was heard from the hallway and everyone in the room flinched. Chris rushed back over to hide behind the desk, pulling Isabel behind him. She just had to wait for the right moment.

And that's when he burst in. "Everything's under control." Izzy let out a strangled laugh as he picked up a bazooka off the couch. "Everything is not under control! You're grabbing a bazooka, you asshole." "Do it," Frank nodded his head as he ignored his son and they lowered themselves back down to the floor. "Where the fuck did he even get a bazooka?" Isabel asked with mock ignorance.

"Long story." Chris mumbled. "Let me guess, you'll tell me later?" She mumbled under her breath and then the room went silent. She let out a yelp and clapped a hand over her mouth when gun shots were heard again. The two men started to high-five. '_Idiots. It's too many shots to be a bazooka,'_ she thought as she repressed the urge to roll her eyes.

As soon as it started, it was over. Both men stood up and looked at each other as Isabel rose slower behind them. "That's one weird sounding bazooka," Frank commented and just then, the door burst open.

Isabel let out a quiet sigh of relief and let her hand drift to the back of her shirt and she lifted it up. Pulling the smaller gun out from when Hit Girl had advised her to hide it, just tucked down the back of her pants slightly. Raising the gun slowly, she saw Frank turn to Chris and his eyes widened. "Not so fast, sweetheart." Isabel said in a false sweet voice and Christ turned around as well. "Shit." "This leather clad whore? Did you think you could get rid of us all that easily?" She let out a harsh laugh and was met with a sharp punch in the nose by Frank.

"Get him," Frank shouted and Chris looked between Isabel and Kick-Ass for a second before sighing and running at the other boy. In the next second, Hit Girl was running at Frank and Isabel ducked out of the way just in time. "Go! Just go," Hit Girl growled at her as she tried to jump into the fray.

Torn for a few seconds between helping the young girl and helping her cousin, family won. She turned on her heel and rushed into the next room. "Stop, you idiots!" She shouted and was immediately met with a poorly aimed kick on Chris' part. It was enough to take her down, though. A direct hit to the ankle that was already injured. She let out a shriek of pain and dropped to the floor, only to see the two boys hit the floor a few seconds later. "Assholes," she grunted as she pushed herself to her feet.

"No!" She yelled as she turned around and saw Frank advancing on Mindy, who was on a collapsed table. A poor attempt was made to save her as she limped over and fumbled the gun. Only to stop and look up when Frank's shadow was cast over her. She barely had time to mumble "shit" before a shoe connected with the side of her head and she blacked out.


	28. How the mighty fall

Here it is! The final chapter! Thank you to everyone who ever read this story and stuck with me through my first writing experience and I hope you all enjoyed it! Just remember to check out the sequel that's posted on my page titled "Light em up (I'm on fire)"! Thank you once again. xoxo

* * *

_How the mighty fall_

Isabel awoke to the sound of engines firing and managed to lift her head up just in time to see Dave flying off with Mindy. "That's okay, I'll catch you guys later," she groaned as she rubbed the side of her head and pulled away to find blood. Hoisting herself to her feet using a chair as support, she stumbled over to the window. "What the fuck…" She mumbled to herself as she looked and saw smoke still floating in the air.

"The fucking bazooka." A voice said behind her. She spun around and found herself almost face to face with Chris, who was shaking and holding a sword in his hand. "What," she asked in genuine confusion. "They blew him up. With the fucking bazooka."

"Well as much as I'd like to say I'm sorry…" Isabel said before she could stop herself and she noticed the change in his eyes. It was like something had snapped. Then he had her by the arm and the sword was at her throat. "I could throw you out the window right now if I wanted to." He hissed at her viciously and her breath caught in her throat as she squeezed her eyes shut.

She was surprised when she felt the cold metal leave her throat and she opened and eye to see him looking defeated. The brunette gulped as she struggled to find something to say. "Go before I change my mind." He said suddenly. His voice was quiet, but his tone was dangerous. She did as he said and took a few steps toward the door before stopping and turning around with tears in her eyes. "I-" "Didn't you hear me? Get the fuck out before I gut you!" He roared at her and she stumbled back in shock.

They stood there for a second with their eyes locked before Isabel turned on her heel and rushed from the room.

She'd made her way to the roof where Dave had the sense to go back and check for her. That day, going back to Dave's house wasn't the same. They were both bloody, beaten, and so tired. But the victory was something neither of them could ignore.

The first thing she did when she got back was hobble up the stairs and lock her bedroom door. She dialed a number with a shaking hand and waited for the person to pick up. They didn't. So she dialed again. And again and again. Finally, on the fifth try, a worried voice answered in an uncertain tone.

"Hello?" "Jude?" Her voice cracked and she heard him put the phone away from his ear and say something to someone in the background. "Sorry about that…I thought you were dead." He hissed into the phone and almost immediately, his planned lecture was lost as the girl started sobbing into the phone.

Sobbing about how her best friend's dad was killed, something about a bazooka, and everything about the day. He just listened and shook his head as he tried his best not to cry as Cecelia watched him out of the corner of her eye from the spot on the couch with the television on low volume. It was running some developing story about how a New York business owner had apparently exploded over the city. Reports and eye witness accounts were still being collected. The red head shook her head and clicked her tongue, mumbling about how much of a shame it was.

"I want to come home," Isabel finally said into the phone and Jude nearly dropped it into his coffee cup. "For how long?" "As long as I need…" she trailed off and choked back a sob. "I'll be there whenever you need me."

It was a little more than a month later, and all of Isabel's things were being piled into the trunk and backseat of Jude's Impala. Jude made small talk with Katie, Marty, and Todd as Isabel talked quietly with her cousin.

"Are you sure you want to? I mean, you don't have to go…" "I do, Dave. I'm not okay here. Everytime I drive past that building, I just…imagine him exploding." She shuddered and Dave's arm was around her shoulder, pulling her into a one-armed hug. "It'll be okay. We'll still be here for you. You know, if you ever want to come back. I'm sure that my dad wouldn't mind." He trailed off and Isabel let out a laugh and wiped a tear from her eye. "You won't be rid of me for that long. Kick-Ass needs his loyal friend." "Sidekick."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, there," Isabel laughed again and embraced her cousin one last time before picking up her last bag. She bid her other friends goodbye, with hugs and promises of phone calls and postcards, before allowing Jude to help her into his car. "I'll be seeing you around," she mumbled as she waved her hand slowly as they pulled away.

"You okay?" Jude asked as he drove down the street and merged onto the one that haunted Isabel with the possibilities of what had happened. She thought for a second, and Jude was patient. The light was red as they stopped in front of the building that was almost destroyed and she couldn't help but shudder. Her eyes widened as the dark haired boy walked out of the front door, followed by a shorter man and his mother. He looked up just as the light turned green and saw her for a split second before she turned around and faced forward.

Tilting her head slightly, she had a soft smile on her face. "I think I'm as okay as I'll ever be."


End file.
